


Changes

by puckinginsane



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Drama, F/M, Friendship, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 11:21:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7101067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puckinginsane/pseuds/puckinginsane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Find out what happens when Amy travels to Dallas to visit her best friend, Tyler Seguin, and she gets the surprise of her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Is That You?

I first met Tyler Seguin when he was playing for the Plymouth Whalers junior hockey team. My dad was the head coach and would always have me come with him to practices and games. I became friends with most of the guys on the team since they were the same age as me but Tyler became one of my best friends from the start. His care free lifestyle is what I love most about him. He's always laughing, always smiling, always having a good time. He is a big goofball but he has such a big heart and would do anything for his friends. He's just so adorable and I love his smile more than I love breathing. We have never been more than just friends but I've always had a little crush on him. I just never told him.

When he was drafted to the Boston Bruins we were all so proud of him. When he signed with the Bruins he would ask me to come visit and hang out with him so I was in Boston pretty regularly. I would stay with him every other month. If it were up to Tyler I would have stayed with him all season. He would always tell me he played better when I was there and that I was his good luck charm. When they made it to the playoffs his rookie year he asked me to come stay with him so I could be there for him and live the whole playoff experience. I stayed with him throughout the playoffs and until the Bruins ultimately won the Stanley Cup.

I became pretty well known with the Bruins fans. They knew that where Tyler was I would be and vice versa. Tyler quickly became known for being a party boy and I was there right along with him. They assumed we were dating but Tyler put those rumors to rest pretty quickly. He made it clear that we were just best friends, nothing more. Nevertheless we were inseparable, that is until he got traded.

Early in the summer after his third season with the Bruins he got word that he was being traded to the Dallas Stars. As soon as he heard about the trade he moved down to Dallas to begin getting acclimated into the Stars culture. He's been there for a month and I've started to miss him. He hasn't called or texted me the whole time he's been in Dallas and that's not like him at all. Usually after the season ends he would come home and I would pick him up from the airport and we would spend the whole summer together. I haven't seen him since the end of the season so I've decided to go down to Dallas and surprise him.

Once I get to Dallas I rent a car and drive to Tyler's house. I'm excited to see the look on his face when he sees me. He has no idea I'm coming to visit him. I plug Tyler's address into my GPS and drive to his house. I pull up to the house and park on the street. I leave everything in the car and walk up to the front door. I ring the doorbell and wait for the door to open. The door opens and someone I don't know is standing before me. I didn't know Tyler had a roommate. "Oh, hi, I'm looking for Tyler," I say.

"Amy, I am Tyler," he replies, "what are you doing here?"

"What? No. You're not. You look nothing like Tyler." I look around him. "Come on out, Tyler, I know you're in there."

"No, Tyler isn't in there. I'm Tyler."

"This isn't funny." He sounds like Tyler but he doesn't look anything like Tyler. I'm really confused.

"Come on in," he says as he steps aside for me to walk in the door.

I step inside and walk a few steps into the house. I look up at the high ceilings and around the room. We walk inside and sit down on the couch in the living room. "So are you going to go and get Tyler for me?" I ask.

"It's me, Amy. I swear."

I study his face and none of it's recognizable. This can't be Tyler. I stare into his eyes. He stares back at me. They look like his eyes. They really do. I look back at his face and it doesn't make sense. Everything about his face is different than before. His cheekbones are more defined, his jawline is more prominent, his nose is smaller, his forehead and brow are more pronounced. Everything is different. There's nothing that reminds me of him besides his eyes. Those are definitely Tyler's eyes. I stare into his eyes once more and he looks away. "Tyler?" I say as my voice cracks. He looks at me. Oh my god I think it's really him. "I have to leave." I stand up.

He stands up with me. "Please don't go," he says as he puts his hand on my arm. I pull away from him.

"I can't handle this. I have to get out of here." I start walking towards the door to leave. I can hear Tyler following behind me.

"You don't know anyone else here and I don't want you all by yourself at a hotel. Please just stay here."

"But I don't know this you," I say as I look down at the floor. I can't even look at him. It feels like I'm talking to a stranger. At least when he talks it sounds like him.

"I know. I don't either."

"I'll stay just for tonight then I don't know what I'm going to do."

"I'll show you to the guest room."

"I just have to get my suitcase from the car." I open the door and walk out to where I parked the car. Before I pop open the trunk I get in the driver's side and sit down. Maybe I should just go. I was so looking forward to seeing him, seeing his face light up when he saw me, seeing his amazing smile, it's all gone now, it's all different. This is not my friend. I don't know who this is. I feel my heart sink lower and lower into my chest the more I think about it. I will never see the guy I fell in love with ever again.

I want to leave. I want to leave so badly. I don't want to stay here and deal with this. I look towards the door. I know he's waiting for me. I can't just leave him, not without at least an explanation. I pop the trunk and walk to the back of the car to get my suitcase. I lift the suitcase out of the trunk and slowly walk back to Tyler's house. Once I get to the door I open it and step in. He's waiting for me just a few feet away. "I'll take that," he says as he grabs the suitcase from my hands.

I look down at the floor and say, "thanks."

"The guest rooms are this way," he says as he begins walking, I follow behind him. As we walk he points out the bathroom in the hallway just in case I need to use it. He opens the door to the guest room and I follow him inside. He puts my suitcase down on the floor and I walk over to the bed and sit down. "I'll give you some time to get settled but I want to talk to you more about this."

"I'm not ready for that right now. I just want to be alone."

"Ok. If you change your mind just come find me." I don't respond. I know I won't be changing my mind. Once he realizes I'm not going to give him a response he leaves the room and closes the door behind him.

This is not how I expected this trip to go at all. I thought I would surprise him and we'd go out for drinks and we'd just have a great time together just like we always do. Everything is different now. I lie down on the bed. I am a little sleepy from traveling. Maybe I can take a nap and I'll feel a little better when I wake up. I get under the blanket and fall asleep.

I wake up from my nap and check the time on my phone. It's a few minutes after 11. I haven't eaten all day and I'm so hungry. I don't know if Tyler is still awake or not but I can't go all day without eating. I get up and out of the bed and creep towards the door. I open the door as quietly as I can and peek my head out to see if I can tell where he is. I slip through the crack in the door I left myself and slowly walk down the hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen.

I open the fridge and there's not much to choose from to eat. I make myself a sandwich. After a few minutes of trying to figure out where the utensils are I grab a knife to cut my sandwich. I hit my hand against the counter top and the knife falls out of my hand and clangs loudly against the floor. "Shit!" I say as I pick it up off of the floor and wash it off before walking back to my sandwich to cut it.

"Kinda loud, aren't you?" he says from behind me. I jump from being startled. I didn't even know he was in the room.

I put my hand to my heart. "Oh geez, I didn't know you were there."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to surprise you."

"It's ok." I pick up the plate and turn around. "Woah." Tyler is only wearing shorts and a black tank top. His arms are covered with tattoos that weren't there before. His once skinny body has been replaced with a perfectly chiseled body. He had muscles before but he's taken it to a whole other level. "That's a lot of tattoos"

He looks down at himself and back up. "Yeah."

"I was just going to watch some TV. I didn't mean to wake you up." I walk into the living room and sit down on the couch.

"I guess I'll get going back to bed." I hear him walk out of the room and up the stairs back to his room.

I pick up the remote off of the coffee table and turn on the TV, Conan O'Brien is on so I decide to watch that. I can't believe that Tyler got all of those tattoos. They cover his entire arms from his shoulders to his wrists. I'm going to miss his beautiful skin. Not only has his face changed but everything else has changed as well. Nothing is like it used to be. The tattoos are just something else I am going to have to work on getting used to. After finishing my sandwich I put the plate on the coffee table and lie down to watch the rest of Conan. My eyes grow heavy and I turn off the TV before falling asleep.

I wake up in the morning to the feeling of Tyler sitting on the couch by my head. I reach up to my face and rub my eyes. I can't believe I fell asleep on the couch. That bed in the guest room is so much more comfortable. I roll over on my side and face the back of the couch. I'm not ready to be awake yet.

"Good morning," Tyler says.

"Morning," I mumble.

All of a sudden I feel something hit against the top of my head. "Wake up, sleepy head," he says.

I look up at him and he's holding a pillow in his hand and he smiles. I grab the pillow out from under my head and hit him with it. "Not in the mood," I grumpily say.

"Oh come on, Amy," he replies.

I bury my head into the back of the couch. "I'm not awake yet."

"I know you are, you're talking." I moan and put the pillow over my head. "Please talk to me."

I turn over and lie down on my back. "I have nothing to say right now."

"Do you hate me?" I don't respond. Of course I don't hate him but I honestly don't know what to think of him right now. "I know you do. You won't talk to me, hell, you won't even look at me." He stands up, leaves the living room, and walks up the stairs and to his room.

I get up off of the couch and go to my room. My neck and back are killing me from sleeping on the couch. I just want to go back to bed. Maybe all of this is a bad dream. I plop down in the bed and pull the blankets over my head. Maybe if I hide long enough this will all go away. It doesn't take me long to fall back asleep.


	2. I Don't Hate You

Throughout the next few days I avoid Tyler as much as possible. I pretty much stay in my room all day until Tyler falls asleep then I venture out and get myself something to eat. I can't stand looking at him. I don't know how to react around him. Every time I see him I just want to shake him by the shoulders and scream 'why did you do this to yourself?' I don't even know why I'm still here. I should just go home. What's the point in even staying? This isn't the Tyler I know. This isn't my best friend.

While Tyler is out doing his workout I decide to go out for a ride to get myself out of the house. I just drive around for a while listening to music while I find some place to stop and hang out. I drive passed a mall and decide to go. If I'm going to stay cooped up in my bedroom I'm going to have to get myself some things to keep me entertained. I noticed Tyler has a pool and I didn't pack a bathing suit. I'll have to pick one up as well. I walk around the mall and pick myself up a few things. I buy a book, some dvds, a bathing suit, and a few new outfits. I deserve some new clothes after the few days I've had.

When I get back to Tyler's house I notice that his Jeep is back in the driveway. He's home. I was hoping to get back before he got back so I could just get back into my room without having any awkwardness between us. I park on the street and grab my shopping bags from the backseat and make my way up to the house. What are the chances he's not sitting in the living room? Not very good. I open the door, head straight to the stairs, and go right to my room. I put the bags down on the floor and sit down on the bed. I can't keep living like this. This is ridiculous.

I spend the rest of my day in my room reading. I get so lost in the book I don't realize the time until I get a knock on my door. "Amy, I made dinner. Please come down and eat," Tyler says.

I really don't want to go but I am hungry. I haven't eaten since I was at the mall and that was so many hours ago. I put my book down and head downstairs to the kitchen. Tyler is sitting at the table and there is a place set for me. I walk over to the table and sit down across from him.

"I made salmon. I know how much you love salmon," Tyler says.

"Thanks," I reply.

"What did you do today?" he asks.

"Shopped."

"Mall?"

"Yup."

"What did you get?"

I continue to look down at my plate. "Stuff."

He sighs. "Oh."

I begin to eat my salmon. Tyler's right. I really do love salmon and I especially love the way he makes it. It was sweet of him to go through all of the trouble to make it for me but I still have trouble even lifting my head up to look in his direction. I eat the rest of my dinner without looking at him once. I stand up from the table and say, "thanks for the dinner." I leave the kitchen and walk back upstairs to my room and close the door. I lie down in bed and continue to read my book.

I can't believe this is the way my trip has been going. Tyler and I used to have such great chemistry. Now it's like I'm staying with a total stranger. I know I can leave at any time but I feel like I'm being held captive. I feel trapped. All I wanted to do was come down here and spend time with my best friend. I'm so miserable. Everything is so awkward. I miss the Tyler I knew. We always used to have so much fun together and now I can't even look at him. I'm mad at him for changing and I'm mad at him for not telling me he was going to. I really don't want this to be the way it is from now on. Either I have to start trying to accept that this is who Tyler is now or I just have to go home and figure out where to go from here.

When I wake up in the morning I wait for Tyler to leave to train before leaving my room. I hear his bedroom door open and close and he walks passed my door. He stops outside my door and I stare at the door waiting to see if he's going to open it. He continues walking. I get up off the bed and put my ear to the door. I hear him walk down the stairs. I walk over to the window and look outside to see if I can watch him leave. It takes a few minutes but I see the Jeep pull out of the driveway and down the street. I walk out of my room and go downstairs to make myself some breakfast.

After I eat breakfast and clean up after myself I go into the living room and turn on the TV. I turn on Netflix and put on NCIS, which I have been marathoning lately. I've made it up to the 5th season. I must have lost track of time because the door to the garage opens and Tyler walks in. I look over at him and back at the TV. Part of me wishes he doesn't notice I'm sitting here. He walks over and sits on the other side of the couch. "What are you watching?" he asks.

"NCIS."

"Can I watch with you?"

"I was going to go upstairs and take a nap actually."

"No that's ok. I'll just go upstairs. I know you hate me now so I'll leave you alone." He gets up off of the couch and walks to the stairs and up his room.

I wait a few minutes but then get up off of the couch and go up the stairs and walk down the hallway to his room. I stand outside the closed door to his room. I don't think I'm ready for this but I can't have him thinking I hate him. I don't hate him. I take a deep breath and open the door and walk in. He's sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. I walk over and sit down on the bed next to him. "I don't hate you," I say. He looks up at me and his eyes are glassy from crying and tears are rolling down his cheeks. "Oh, Tyler." He rests his head on my shoulder. I put my arm around his back and rub it.

"This hasn't been easy on me."

"What made you get the plastic surgery? Didn't you like the way you were?"

"My publicist thought it would help me get more recognition and endorsements."

"That is just the most insane thing I have ever heard in my life. I can't believe she made you change. You were perfect the way you were."

"I didn't think they would change me this much. I guess she turned me into what her perfect man would look like. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I just don't understand."

"Do you think I'm ugly?"

"No I don't. I'm just not used to you looking like this. I loved your face the way it was."

"Well that makes me feel better at least. Were you going to find a flight home?

"I was going to maybe give it a few more days to see how I feel."

"You know you're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

"I still don't know how I feel about this whole thing."

"I'm so sorry but this is me now."

I look away. "I know." Tears start to well up in my eyes. I scoot away from him. I don't want him to see me crying. I turn my back to him and put my hands over my face as the tears start to fall. I can feel a sob coming out but I try to fight it as long as I can. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

"Don't cry, please." He scoots closer to me and hugs me. I lean back on him.

"All I wanted to do was come here and see the look on your face when you saw me. I missed you so much and I only wanted to see that beautiful smile of yours. The more I think about it the more I realize that I will never see the face I love so much ever again. The Tyler I knew is gone forever and I don't know if I can handle that."

"I don't know what to say. Nothing will change the way you feel."

"I still love you, Tyler. That's not going to change."

"You loved me?"

"Love. I love you."

"I had no idea."

"I know."

"You mean so much to me. I was heartbroken when I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore. What I'm trying to say is, I love you too."

"You do?"

He puts his hand under my chin and lifts my head up. He looks into my eyes and says, "yes, very much." I look away. It's still so weird to know it's him but look at him and not see who I'm expecting to see. He wraps his arms around me and hugs me. I rest my head on his shoulder and hug him back. "So are we ok now?"

"It's going to take time to get used to it but we were never not ok."

"The worst feeling is seeing you look at me and knowing your heart is breaking because of the way I look."

"I'm trying my best."

"You're doing much better. You're in the same room as me and you're talking to me."

"Well I still missed you. That's why I'm here."

"You coming was a nice surprise." He rolls up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows. "It's getting hot in here."

I look down at his tattoos. "Ugh, I'll never get used to those."

"Hey, I actually like them."

"I like your skin so..."

"They're not that bad, Amy."

"Nope, I can't deal with the tattoos. I'm leaving," I joke. I begin to stand up and he pulls me down. He wraps his arms around me and squeezes me tightly. I hug him back. This is nice. I've missed this. "So, you've been working out."

"Yeah. A lot."

"It shows."

"Oh so that you're ok with."

"Well it is sexy. I'm not gonna lie."

He smiles wide. "Finally something you're ok with."

"I would be crazy not to be."

"Yeah, my body's pretty hot, huh?" he jokes.

"You've always been hot to me."

His cheeks turn pink from blushing. "How come you never told me?"

"I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I wasn't sure if you felt the same way or not."

"But you told me now."

"Because it was time. I just needed to."

"I had no idea. You keep secrets well."

"I suppose I do."

"Now I wish I would have known."

"Why? It's not like it would have changed anything."

"No I would never have done anything knowing it would hurt you so much."

"Why wouldn't you think it would hurt me anyway? You're one of my best friends. Oh my god, what is your mom going to say?"

"She's going to kill me."

"Yeah, I don't want to be around for that. You didn't think this through, did you?"

"I honestly didn't think it was going to be this drastic of a change."

"I am seriously going to murder this girl when I see her."

"She told me it was going to be some small changes and the other day when I got the bandages off I almost died, I didn't even recognize myself. I hate to even admit this but I cried myself to sleep that night."

"I just wish you would have told me. I would have talked you out of it."

"I wish I would have told you so you could have but it's too late now. There's nothing I can do."

I hang my head. "Yeah I know."

"Don't be so down, please."

"I'm trying Tyler."

"I miss the way you used to look at me."

"I don't know what to tell you. It's going to take time for me to adjust."

"What if you never do?"

"Let's not think about that. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Do you want to go out and grab something to eat?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"Cool, let me go get ready."

"Yeah I have to get ready as well."

I stand up and go to the room I'm staying in to get myself a change of clothes. I walk into the hallway bathroom to take a shower. After my shower I get dressed and walk into Tyler's room. He's sitting on the edge of his bed with his phone in his hand. He's wearing black shorts and a maroon v-neck shirt. He stands up once I walk into the room. The shirt hugs his body tightly, showing off every muscle. He looks amazing. "Is everything ok?" he asks, "you look as if you've seen a ghost or something."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He smiles. "Ok, let's go," he says as he takes my hand and we head out to his Jeep. While Tyler drives to the restaurant I keep looking at him. I'm still trying to get used to his new look. I guess he notices that I've been looking at him because he looks at me out of the corner of his eye. "What? You're making me nervous."

"Sorry, it's just...that shirt."

"This shirt? What's wrong with it?"

"Uh nothing's wrong. It's perfect."

He smiles wide. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You're so sexy."

He quickly looks in my direction. "Really?"

"I'm sorry I never told you before. I've always thought so."

"I don't think I would have believed you."

"Why not?"

"Because I wasn't."

"Stop it. Yes you were."

"Let's just change the subject. How are things back home?"

"Ok I guess. The summer was lonely without you. I didn't know what to do with myself."

"Stay here with me for the rest of the summer."

"Oh I don't know, Tyler."

"What else are you going to do? You said yourself you missed me."

"I did. I just wasn't expecting to stay so long. All of this is still fucking with my head."

"How long were you planning on staying?"

"Only a few days, maybe a week."

"What's another two months?" he asks, then laughs. I just look out the window. I don't know what I want to do. When I look at him I still see a stranger. I know that it's the same Tyler I've known all of these years but part of me doesn't even believe it. I'm so confused. "I'm still me, you know."

"I know," I say as I continue to stare out of the window.

"You know you want to stay. You'd miss all of this way too much." I look back at him and laugh. He always manages to make me laugh even when I'm feeling down.

"I do want to but...I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so confused. I love you and want to be here with you. I am attracted to you but still wish that I could be with the old Tyler I knew. I don't know if this makes any sense, it's hard to explain how i'm feeling."

"I know you need to get used to it, but wouldn't that be easier if you were here?"

"It would be but there is a part of me that is screaming to get out of here. I'm sorry. It's just how I feel."

"I won't keep you here if you don't want to stay. I can get you a flight out tonight if you want." I hang my head and don't respond. I don't know what I want to do at this point. I really want to stay with him. I love him. What if I can't get over this change? What if I wind up not feeling the same way about him anymore? I'm scared of that happening. I wish things could just go back to the way they were. "Do you want me to get you one or not?" I just continue to stare forward and don't say anything. He pulls over to the side of the road. "Are you going to answer me or is this the way it's going to be?"

"Let's just go get something to eat, please."

"I'm not going anywhere until we talk about this."

"Tyler, I can't talk about this right now. Let's just go get something to eat."

"Look, if you don't want this then I will take you back to my house to get your things and you can go home because apparently you aren't happy being with me anymore."

"Don't say that."

"Well it's true, isn't it?"

"I'm just confused. I want to stay here with you. I do."

"Are you sure? You'll be stuck looking at this me everyday and be miserable like I am."

I put my hand on his cheek and look into his eyes. He looks away. I pull him back towards me and lean in to kiss him. I linger on his lips for a few seconds before pulling away. "I've been waiting seven years to do that."

He smiles. "I hope it was worth the wait."

"It was."

"It's not so bad, is it? My face, I mean."

"Of course it isn't, Tyler, it's just different. So can we get something to eat now?"

He smiles. "Yeah." He pulls back out onto the road and we're back on our way. "In the mood for anything in particular?"

"I'm actually in the mood for pancakes."

"I know just the place."

He won't tell me where we're going. He wants it to be a surprise. We drive for a little while before we pull up to the Pancake House. We get out of the Jeep and we walk in and wait to be seated. Once we are at the table I take a look at the menu. "How am I supposed to pick just one thing? Everything sounds so good," I say.

"I'm getting the bacon and cheese omelette."

"Bacon and cheese, is that how you got that amazing body? I've been doing it all wrong," I tease.

"I'm allowed a cheat day."

"Apple, banana, or chocolate chip?"

"Hmm. That's a tough one. Why do I always have me make your tough decisions for you?"

"Because if it were up to me I'd have all three."

"That would be a lot of pancakes."

"Are you going to help me on this or not?"

"You're on your own."

"I wish I could have chocolate chips in my banana pancakes."

"You better choose soon, she's coming over here to take our order."

The waitress comes over to take our order. She looks at Tyler and smiles. It's not one of those friendly waitress smiles. It's one of those I will fuck you in the bathroom smiles. I glare at her as my urge to punch her in the face grows. She stares at him the whole time she takes our order. She doesn't even look at me while I give her mine. I hope she heard me. I roll my eyes at Tyler after she walks away. "Doesn't she see that we're together?" I ask.

"Are you jealous?"

"No. I'm not."

"You are so jealous. I can see steam coming out of your ears."

"Just because I want to stab her with a fork doesn't mean I'm jealous."

He laughs.

The waitress comes over with our drinks. Tyler ordered an orange juice and I ordered chocolate milk. She places our drinks down in front of us. She smiles at Tyler before she walks away. She walks right into a chair at the table next to us and drops the cups that she had in her hands. I lean back and say, "that's what you get for visually undressing my boyfriend." She glares at me side eyed and walks away after picking the cups up off of the floor. A bus boy rushes over to clean up the drinks off of the floor.

"Boyfriend?" Tyler questions.

"She pissed me off."

"Yeah, but, boyfriend?"

"What? You wouldn't want to be my boyfriend?"

"Well yeah, of course I would."

"Then shut up."

"It's funny how mad you got."

"Well she was practically drooling at the sight of you."

"Could you blame her?"

"Uh, yeah I could, you're with me. She should have respected that."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not interested."

The server brings our food over and puts our plates in front of us. I decided to go with the banana pancakes since I am drinking chocolate milk. Tyler's omelette looks amazing but my pancakes smell like heaven.

"Those look good," he says as he reaches across the table with his fork and cuts a piece of my pancake. He stabs at a few bananas and eats them.

"You're lucky I love you so much. I should have slapped you."

"You can have a bite of mine if you want."

"I do want." I reach over the table and cut a piece of his omelette off for myself.

After we finish up our meal Tyler pays and we walk into the parking lot out to his Jeep. We get in and he starts driving. "We're pretty close to my new practice facility. Do you want to see it?"

"Yeah sure. That would be cool."

Once we get to the practice facility I follow Tyler inside. He shows me the gym first since that's where he's been spending a lot of his time this summer. He has been doing some skating but he's been spending most of this time building muscle. He tells me about his training regimen and how long he stays here each day. We make our way over to the ice and we sit down on the bleachers.

"I've always loved watching you practice," I say.

"I like it when you're there. You know you're my good luck charm."

"We should take a selfie. This is a nice moment to capture."

I take my phone out of my pocket and he puts his arm around me and leans in towards me. I hold out my phone, we smile, and I take the picture. "This is the first picture of the new me," Tyler says as we look at the picture on my phone.

"It's a cute one," I reply, "do you want me to send it to you?"

"Of course." I send him the picture. "I cant wait for this season to get started. I'm a lot stronger now."

"Dallas seems so far away from Toronto."

"I know Boston was a lot closer but we'll still see each other. I am going to need you here with me just like I did in Boston."

"I'm gonna tweet the picture. Is that ok?"

"Sure."

AngelAmyRF : (selfie with Ty) hanging at the new practice facility with the bff. Just like old times.

"I guess we can go back home now. Not much else to see here," Tyler says as he stands up. I stand up with him. We walk out to his Jeep and Tyler drives us back to his house.

When we get back to Tyler's house we sit down on the couch and he turns on the TV. As we sit and watch TV my phone starts blowing up. I take a look at it and I have text messages and a whole lot of Twitter notifications. I have a text from my friend, AnnMarie, from back home and Candace, Tyler's sister. I decide to open AnnMarie's first. I don't even want to know why Candace is texting me.

AnnMarie : who is that in the picture? One of Tyler's teammates?

Amy : it's Tyler, I can't even begin to explain to you how or why

AnnMarie : oh my god, you're lying

Amy : I wish I was

AnnMarie : he looks good

Amy : yeah he does. It's just not what I'm used to

AnnMarie : yeah I can only imagine how awkward it was for you at first

Amy : It's just really confusing

AnnMarie : this is crazy, it doesn't even look like him

Amy : I know. It's really been freaking me out.

AnnMarie : I like it

"Who are you talking to?" Tyler asks.

"You're so nosey," I reply.

"Yeah I am. Who is it?"

"It's AnnMarie."

"I should have known. What are you talking about?"

"None of your business."

"So secretive all of a sudden."

I roll my eyes at him. "She saw the tweet of the picture. She wanted to know who I was with."

"Does she like it?"

"Yeah." He smiles. "You're really loving this aren't you?"

He shrugs. "Maybe a little."

I look back down at my phone. Instead of reading Candace's text I check on my Twitter notifications. There are hundreds of them. Most of them are Bruins fans asking me what happened to Tyler being my bff. I forgot that so many of the Bruins fans follow me on Twitter because of my friendship with Tyler. Of course they're confused. They know Tyler is my best friend and the guy in the picture doesn't look anything like Tyler. These people are always so involved in my life. That's why I hardly use Twitter anymore.

"Your Boston fans are all up in my business. Asking who my new bff is," I say as I close Twitter.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

I finally decide to open Candace's text.

Candace : I thought you were visiting my brother

I look up from my phone at Tyler with my mouth hanging open. "We might have a problem," I say.

"What would that be?"

"Candace must have seen my tweet. She questioned me about the picture."

"You can't tell her."

"I wasn't planning on it. I am not getting involved. You're going to have to tell them soon."

"I'm not ready."

"The longer you wait to tell them the more they will want to kill you."

"I don't want to break my mom's heart."

"You're going to have to at some point. You can't hide from them forever. The season is going to start soon and then everyone will know."

"I know. Just...not right now."

"I really think you should tell them sooner rather than later."

"My mom is going to cry. I can't handle that. Your reaction was bad enough. I can't even imagine what theirs is going to be like."

"I know it's going to be difficult but as I said you're going to have to tell them eventually."

"Yeah I know." My phone keeps going off. I'm pretty sure it's Twitter going crazy. "Can you shut that thing off or something?"

I go to turn the phone off but notice I have another text from Candace.

Candace : who is that? Tyler is going to be so jealous you're calling someone else your bff

Candace : dude is hot. are you sleeping with him?

"Your sister won't stop texting me. I have to say something to her."

"What are you going to say?"

Amy : yeah, I'm sleeping with him.

Candace : way to go!

"I told her that I'm sleeping with you. Well not you but the guy in the picture who she doesn't know is you. You get it."

"All I got from that is that we're sleeping together."

"You would."

"Was it good for you?"

"I'd probably sleep with you again."

He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in close to him. I rest my head on his shoulder. "It's so nice to be here with you. It feels like forever since we've hung out."

"I know. This is one of my favorite things to do with you."

"I am pretty cuddly."

"That's one thing they didn't take away."

"Nope they didn't." He pulls me closer to him. I turn and look at him. I really want to get used to his new face. Everything else feels the same. I have to get over this somehow. He looks back at me. I stare into his eyes. I make myself continue looking at him. "Is everything ok?"

"Everything's just fine." He caresses my cheek with his hand and I lean into his palm. Tears start to well up in his eyes. "No, Tyler, don't."

"You're not looking away." I shake my head no as we continue to look into each other's eyes. He runs his fingers through my hair and puts his hand on the back of my head as he leans in. I close my eyes as his lips touch mine. I put my hands on his chest as I kiss him back. He slowly runs his tongue along my bottom lip. I wasn't expecting that. I thought it was just going to be a quick, innocent kiss. He runs his tongue along my top lip and I open my mouth slightly and kiss him more passionately. He nibbles on my lower lip before I slip the tip of my tongue in his mouth, teasing him. He smiles in the kiss before pulling away. "Wow, I never knew what a great kisser you were."

"I am pretty great, aren't I?" He gives me a quick kiss and smiles. I run my hands along both sides of his face. "You really are handsome, Ty."

"I'm so happy you think so." I wrap my arms around him and hug him. He hugs me back and rests his chin on my shoulder. We break from the hug and continue sitting close to each other on the couch. I couldn't even tell you what is on TV right now. I'm not paying attention at all. My mind is going in a million different directions. Something is happening between us and it's kind of exciting and kind of scary at the same time. "Do you want to play pool or something? There's nothing on TV."

"Of course I want to play pool."

We stand up from the couch and I follow him to where the pool table is. "Are you ready to get your ass beat?" he asks as he hands me a stick.

"Keep dreaming, TyTy," I reply and I start grabbing balls and putting them on the table.

He racks up the balls and stands to the side. "You can break."

I walk around the table and position the cue ball where I want it. I break the balls and one of the striped balls goes in. I look at Tyler and smirk. "I'm stripes."

"Lucky shot."

I walk around to the other side of the table and hit the cue ball into one of my striped balls but I miss the pocket. I know Tyler doesn't have a shot so I'm not worried. He slightly taps the cue ball and it stops right next to one of his solid balls. "That's just fucked up," I say as I try to see if there is any way I can get out of this. I hit the cue ball into one of Tyler's solids and the solid hits into my striped ball and it slowly rolls into the pocket. I smugly look at Tyler and he rolls his eyes. "You thought you were so slick."

"Keep talking shit. See where it gets you."

"You really shouldn't threaten people without being able to back it up."

We play the rest of the game and I wind up winning just like I knew I would. He begs me to play him again but I know better than that. I'm going to go out on top. "Come on, let's play again. There's nothing else to do," he begs.

"Nah, I don't want to play again. I'm going to go watch some TV. I think the Rangers have a game. We can watch that."

"You'd rather watch baseball than play with me? You're no fun," he whines.

"I'm plenty of fun. I just don't want to give you a chance of winning."

I start walking towards the living room and he follows behind me. "You're so competitive. We're just playing for fun."

"No such thing. I play to win," I say as I sit down on the couch. Tyler sits on the other end of the couch and puts his feet up on the ottoman. I grab the remote from the coffee table and turn on the TV. "What channel is the game on?"

He smirks. "I'm not telling."

"You're a spiteful little boy." I open the channel guide and go through every single channel until I find where the game is. I select it and change the channel. "Got there anyway." He glares at me. "Wow, someone is grumpy right now. I don't like when you look at me like that with this face."

"I was having fun with you." He crosses his arms over his chest and pouts out his lower lip.

"We can have fun watching the game. Maybe we can play another game afterwards."

"You don't even like the Rangers."

"All I want to do is watch this baseball game with you and you're laying on a guilt trip."

"Fine we can watch. I'll have to take you to one while you're here."

"That would be fun." I look at all of the space in between us. "You're really far away."

"What are you getting at? Do you want me near you?"

"Nah, I was just stating a fact." He pouts out his lip again. "You're the one who chose to sit all the way over there."

He opens his arms and says, "come here." I move down the couch and sit next to him as he puts his arm around my back and his other arm around my stomach. I lean my head on his shoulder and put my feet up alongside his.

"And you wanted to play pool. This is so much better." I say as I rub my hand up and down his forearm. He looks at me and I smile, he smiles back. "Something on your mind?"

"You're touching my tattoos and you're not turning to stone," he teases.

"Well I can't really miss them. They're all over," I joke.

"Just admit you're warming up to them."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"You like them."

"I like you."

"I like you too." He kisses my forehead.

We watch the rest of the Rangers game while cuddling on the couch. Towards the end of the game I start nodding off. As soon as the game is over we walk upstairs to turn in for the night. I stand in the doorway of my room as Tyler walks passed me. "Goodnight, Tyler," I say.

"You should come sleep in my room," he replies.

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh come on. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself."

"I don't know if I believe that." I start to go into my room. "I'm going to sleep in here."

He starts walking towards me. "I'll just sleep in here with you then."

I get into bed thinking that he won't follow but he walks around to the other side and lies down next to me. "No! Get out," I say as I try to push him out of the bed. He doesn't move very far.

"I'm not moving. I'm staying here with you tonight."

"I don't know if this is a good idea."

"Relax. All we're going to do is sleep."

I get up out of bed. "I have to change into pajamas."

He gets out of the bed as well. "I'm going to change then come back in here."

"Ok." I close the door behind Tyler and change into shorts and a tank top. I get back into bed and wait for Tyler. I can't believe he wants to sleep in the bed with me. We've never slept next to each other before. This one time we were accidentally booked a hotel room with one bed and instead of just sleeping next to me he slept on the floor. I had begged him to just sleep in the bed but he refused. He said it wouldn't be right. This is so different.

The door opens and Tyler walks in. He's wearing shorts and a black tank top. He walks over to the bed and gets in next to me. Just to mess with him I wrap the blanket around myself so he can't have any of it. "If you're cold I'll keep you warm."

"I thought you said you'd keep your hands to yourself."

"No funny business, just cuddling."

"You've never wanted to do this before."

"I never knew you liked me before."

I unwrap the blanket from myself and hold it up so he can join me under the blanket. He moves closer until his body is up against mine, spooning me. He wraps his arm around me and nuzzles his head into my neck. This feels nice. I almost want to fight sleep so I can stay awake and enjoy this a little longer. I close my eyes and fall asleep.


	3. It's Not You, It's Me

In the morning I wake up to Tyler letting go of me and getting out of the bed. I can tell he tried to be as slow and quiet as he could so he wouldn't wake me but I'm a light sleeper. I open my eyes and roll onto my back as he is getting out of the bed. "I didn't mean to wake you. I have a full day of training today," he says, "go back to sleep."

"Ok," I sleepily say as I roll back over onto my side to fall back asleep.

He climbs back into the bed and hugs me. "I'll see you later," he says into my ear then kisses my cheek.

"Have fun," I mumble. He leaves the room and I fall back asleep.

Once I wake up for the day I walk downstairs to make myself something to eat. I look outside and the sun is shining and I can tell there is just a bit of a breeze. The pool is calling my name. I check the weather on my phone. It's about 87 degrees out. It's a perfect day to go for a swim and lay out in the sun. I make myself a bowl of cereal and some toast. I don't want to have a heavy stomach when I go swimming and I don't want to wait. After I finish eating I head up to my room to change into my bathing suit.

I bought myself a forest green two piece bikini. The top has studs along the top and fringe on it and the bottoms have ties on either side. I felt like it was a pretty Texas type of bathing suit with the fringe and all. I put it on and look in the mirror. I love how green looks on me. It goes so well with my green eyes. It takes me a while but I finally find where Tyler keeps the towels for the pool and I grab myself one and head outside. Once I open the sliding glass door the heat hits me like a ton of bricks. I drape the towel on the back of one of the lounge chairs and I jump right into the pool. The water is cool and feels so good. It's just what is needed to get away from the heat.

After I swim for a little while I rub some tanning oil all over my body. I lay out on the lounge chair to get myself some sun. I'm going to be the most tan person in Toronto. I lie down on my stomach first and let the sun's rays hit my skin. It's so hot out but every once in a while there is a breeze that cools my skin and it feels amazing. Before I roll onto my back I take a dip in the pool just to cool off a bit. I get back out of the pool and lie down on my back. I wish I would have brought sunglasses out with me but then I would have raccoon eyes and that wouldn't be very attractive. I close my eyes and enjoy the sun's warmth on my face.

After about 15 minutes of lying out on my back I hear the sliding glass door open and I open my eyes and shield them with my hand from the sun. Tyler starts walking in my direction and I close my eyes to relax a bit more. I hear Tyler clearing his throat and I open my eyes. He is standing over me with his hands on his hips. He has taken his shirt off and now all he's wearing is his bathing suit. This is the first time I have seen his new body shirtless. He is so toned, so sexy. I knew he had built muscle but I didn't think he looked like this.

He walks over to the side of my chair and leans down to kiss me so I close my eyes with anticipation for the kiss. All of a sudden I feel his arms underneath me and he lifts me up. "What are you doing?" I ask as I put my arms around his neck

"In the pool you go," he says as he walks to the edge of the pool.

"Don't you dare, Tyler," I say.

He just laughs and jumps into the pool. Once we land in the pool he lets go of me and I swim away from him a little. I stand up and look at him and he's just laughing at me. I splash him with water and yell, "jerk!."

He grabs me by the wrist and pulls me up against him as he backs up and leans against the wall of the pool. He puts his arms around my back and lets them rest on the small of my back. I wrap my arms around his neck. He leans his forehead on the side of my head. "You look great in that," he says into my ear.

"Thanks. You're looking pretty good yourself," I say as I let go of his neck with my right arm and place is on his chest, still holding onto his neck with my left. I rub my hand all over his chest and he looks down at my hand and back up into my eyes. "Sorry."

"For what?"

"For feeling up on you like that."

"It's fine. I really don't mind. It's you so it's ok."

"I've never touched you like this before."

"I know but it doesn't bother me when you do." He kisses my cheek.

"This is nice even though you tried to drown me," I joke.

"I did not," he replies.

"Oh yeah you did."

"I was only thinking ahead to the mouth to mouth."

"You could do that without trying to kill me, you know."

He leans in and kisses me. I put my hands on the back of his head and kiss him back. He pulls me closer up against his body as he gets more passionate with his kisses. I wrap my legs around his waist and suck on his bottom lip. He holds me tight and starts walking out further into the pool as we continue to make out. I run my tongue along his lower lip before slipping it into his mouth. He sucks on my tongue and I run my fingers through his hair that is soaked with pool water. We continue to kiss more and more passionately as he walks to the other side of the pool. He pushes me up against the pool wall and we break from the kiss. He squeezes me tightly and kisses my cheek. "That was...wow," he says.

"Yeah. Wow is a good word for it," I reply, "Why'd you stop?"

"I needed to come up for air." He laughs.

"I'm going to go lie back down." I pull myself out of the pool and walk over to my chair and lie down on my back to continue my tanning.

He walks out of the pool and over to me. "Can I join you?" he asks before climbing into the chair and lying down next to me not even waiting for my response. He lays down on his side, facing me, and has his hand on my hip.

"How am I going to get a tan with you all over me?"

"You're not." He gives me a quick kiss.

"I can't believe this is happening."

"What? I can't help that you look really good in that bikini."

"Oh is that the only reason you're all up on me today?"

"No. I may like you a little." A smile creeps across his face.

"Where did all of this confidence come from?" The Tyler I knew was shy. He would never make out with me in a pool, or have his hand on my hip, or look at me the way he's looking at me right now.

"People look at me differently now. They look at me like I'm actually someone."

"I always looked at you like that."

I look at Tyler now and I'm incredibly attracted to him and I feel guilty. I feel like I'm betraying the old Tyler by liking the new Tyler. I am starting to feel like if I accept this Tyler then I am ready to leave the old Tyler behind and I'm not ready for that yet. I'm conflicted. I know they are the same person but it just doesn't feel like it is. Not only has his appearance changed but his personality is slowly changing as well.

He starts kissing me and I can't shake the feeling that the more I kiss him, the more I am forgetting the Tyler I once knew. I feel so guilty. I pull away from the kiss. "Tyler, I can't do this."

"Did I do something wrong?" he asks.

"No you didn't. It's just me," I reply, "Believe me, I've been wanting this for so long but..."

"With the old me."

"I feel like if I accept this new you that the old you will be gone forever and I'm not ready for that. I know that this is who you are now and I'll get used to it but right now my mind is still trying to figure all of this out," I explain.

"I didn't realize how much changing myself would change us." I hang my head. "I'm not afraid to tell you how much I care about you now."

"I just can't let the old you go."

"Amy, that Tyler you're trying to hold on to is already gone."

"I didn't even get to say goodbye." Tears start to fall from my eyes and roll down my cheeks.

He puts his hands on my cheek and rubs the tears with his thumb. "I'm right here."

"I wish I could have seen your smile one last time."

"I thought you were doing better with all of this"

"It's going to take some time, Tyler."

"What's wrong with my smile now?"

"Nothing. It's amazing. It's just not the same."

"Thanks, I guess. You don't seem too sure."

"If you don't want to believe me that's fine."

"It's not that." He gets up out of the chair and sits in the chair next to me.

I shake my head. "This is not what I expected this trip to be like at all."

"You know if you got to say goodbye you would have been even more upset."

"Do you really think I would have let you go through with this?"

"You would have because you love me."

"I wouldn't have because I loved you just the way you were."

"Exactly, was. No more what ifs this is me now and I want you to allow yourself to love me"

"I do love you, Tyler."

"Not the same as before."

"Can't we just go back to making out?"

"I'm coming back over there."

He gets out of the chair and walks back over to my chair. He climbs on top of me and buries his face in my neck and starts kissing it. I put my hands on his back. "Oh my god, Tyler."

He looks up at me. "Shut up and enjoy it." He goes back to kissing my neck. I nibble on the tip of his ear as I run my hands down his back. He kisses up from my neck to my ear. I put my hands on his cheeks and kiss his lips. I think it's safe to say we have left the best friends zone and have evolved into something more. I don't want to leave the old Tyler behind but I don't really have a choice. Kissing him, hugging him, being with him is all I've ever wanted to do since I was 16 years old. It's finally happening and it's amazing. I run my hands on his chest and down to his stomach and back up as we explore each other's mouths with our tongues. I'm starting to get really into it and I think he is too. I'm not sure if we're ready to take it to that next step just yet so I pull away from the kiss. He rolls off of me and onto his side next to me as he faces my direction.

"Let's go inside and get something to eat," I say.

"Yeah leave it to you to want food instead of making out."

"I had a light lunch."

"Ok, we'll order something."

"Thank god because there is never anything here to eat."

"I don't eat here that often."

"Well if you bought food you could."

We get up off of the chair and walk inside. "You should have sunbathed naked to avoid those tan lines," he says as he points to a spot on my shoulder where my bikini strap has moved.

"Your neighbors would have loved that, I'm sure."

"I would have," he says as he raises his eyebrows.

"Stop it."

"Have you always been this sexy?" he says as he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me. He moves my hair to the side and kisses my neck.

I release his hands that are grasped around me and take a step away and turn around to face him. "Let's go get something to eat, please." I'm still trying to get used to not only this new Tyler but also the way that he treats me now. This is what I've always wanted but it's still weird to me. I wish I wasn't so in my head. I should be enjoying this but instead I keep pushing him away.

"Oh come on, let me kiss you." He says as he puts his hands on my hips. He cocks his head to the side, "please?"

"I'm still getting used to all of this."

He moves his hands from my hips to my butt and pulls me up against him. "Well get used to it because I'm not stopping." I put my hands on his chest as he leans down to kiss me. "So what are you in the mood for?"

"Uhhh," is all I can manage to say.

"To eat. What do you want to eat?"

"Right. Um, I kinda can't concentrate right now."

He smiles. "We don't have to get food right now. We can continue this."

I shake my head no. "I'm pretty hungry."

He wraps his arms around my back and pulls me close. I lean my head on his chest and hug him back. He kisses the top of my head. "Ok, food it is. Let's get dressed."

After we change out of our bathing suits and into clothes we head out to pick up some Chinese food. We get it to go so we can bring it back to the house and eat it there. Once we get back we set up our food on the coffee table in front of the TV and sit down to eat. After dinner we kick our feet up and watch a movie.

We watch a few movies on Netflix before deciding it's time to turn in for bed. We walk upstairs and I walk into my room. He follows me in. "I'm just getting changed," I say.

"I won't force you to let me sleep with you tonight."

"I was going to sleep with you in your bed but if you don't want to I guess I can stay in here all alone."

"I want you to."

"Ok. You have to get out so I can change."

"Why?"

"Because you're not seeing me naked, Tyler."

He sighs. "Ok fine." He walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.

After I change into my shorts and tank top to sleep in I leave my room and make my way down the hallway to Tyler's room. I open the door and walk in. He walks out of the closet with his boxer briefs in his hand and he's totally naked. I quickly turn around. "Sorry. I thought you were done," I say, completely embarrassed.

"It's fine relax.," Tyler replies, "you can turn around now. I put them on."

I turn around and he's still naked. "Oh my god, Tyler, you ass!" I shriek as I cover my face.

He laughs at me. "You should see your face right now. You're so red."

"I don't like you anymore," I pout, "I changed my mind, I'm sleeping alone."

I start walking towards the door and he grabs me to stop me from going. "No, stay!"

"You're naked and you're touching me."

"Sometimes I sleep naked, you know."

"Not tonight, you're not." I have to force myself to keep my head up and my eyes from looking down. It's not like I'm a prude or anything. It's just that this is Tyler, my best friend. I'm not ready to see all of him like that just yet. All of this seems to be happening so fast and my brain needs time to catch up.

"You don't like what you see?"

"Of course I do. I'm just not ready for this yet."

"You think too much. Stop thinking and just be. Here, I'll help." He takes my hand and places it on his chest. He slowly moves my hand from his chest down his body to his stomach.

I pull my hand away. "Oh no, not happening right now."

"Come on, baby," he pleads.

"Baby? Since when do you call me that?"

"You don't want me to call you that?"

"I don't know what I want anymore."

"Amy, I've been a little confused lately but I think I'm in love with you?"

"Huh? You're what?"

"I was too stupid to see it before but I guess I always have been." He hugs me and I hug him back. I can't believe he just told me he's in love with me. I've been waiting to hear those words for so long. I never thought I would actually hear them, not from him. I just wish he would have said it before, when he was still the boy I fell in love with.

"I've been in love with you since that time we were at that team skate and I fell and twisted my ankle. I felt so stupid. You came right over and asked if I was ok. You helped me up on my feet and I tried to stand but I couldn't put any weight on it. I was in so much pain. You picked me up and carried me over to the bench, brought me ice for my ankle, and sat with me the rest of the time. You didn't have to do that. You didn't care what any of the guys thought. You just didn't want me to be alone and feel left out. I have never forgotten that."

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok. I was worried about you." He looks down at himself and looks back up at me. "I should probably put some clothes on." He steps into the boxer briefs he has been holding in his hand. "Let's get some sleep."

Both of us walk over to the bed and lie down. This bed is probably 10 times more comfortable than the one in the guest room and I thought that was really comfortable. I probably won't ever leave this bed. This is where I will live out the rest of my days. "Mmmm, this feels so nice."

"Yeah, the bed is pretty comfy."

"Yeah it is, but I meant lying here with you."

"That's so good to hear. I know everything's been confusing."

"It hasn't changed the way I feel about you. I just don't know what to do with those feelings now."

"You are always going to miss the old me but it's ok to accept me this way too. It's only the outside that's changed." He pulls me up against him and rests his chin on my shoulder. "Love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight, Ty."

He kisses my neck. "Goodnight." We fall asleep.


	4. There's a First Time For Everything

I wake up in the morning and I'm now facing Tyler. I must have turned over in my sleep. I stare at his face trying to tell myself that this is Tyler. It's still hard to accept it sometimes. You can't even tell that this wasn't his face before. I put my hand on his cheek. He doesn't open his eyes but he smiles. I kiss his forehead and lie my head back down on the pillow. He opens one eye barely. "Good morning," I say.

"Morning," he mumbles.

"Ok. Time to go back to sleep," I say as I close my eyes. I'm not ready to be awake yet.

"What were you doing up if you still want to sleep?"

"I was watching you sleep. You're kinda cute." His cheeks turn pink from blushing.

"Just kinda?"

"Very."

"You're not just saying that, are you?" He looks into my eyes and waits for my response.

"I'm starting to finally get used to it and you're second guessing me."

"Sorry, I just can't believe you are actually ok with it."

"I'm getting there. It doesn't take away from the fact that you're incredibly good looking."

"I've been waiting for you to like me this way."

"It's hard but I'm trying. It's slowly happening."

"I can't wait for the day that you look at me and don't think about what I used to look like and just feel like this has always been me."

"I'm trying." I don't want to tell him that I'm scared that that day may never come. It isn't easy. It's not like I have control over how I feel or how I see him.

"I know you are. I can see the struggle in your eyes." I close my eyes and look away. "No, please don't look away." Tears well up in my eyes and I wipe them away. "Oh come on, don't cry, we were having such a great moment." I bury my head in his chest and he wraps his arms around me and rubs my back while I begin to cry.

"I don't want to let you down. I love you so much."

"You could never let me down."

"What if I never look at you the way you want me to?" I say as I look up at him.

"I'm just glad you still love me." He kisses the tip of my nose. He wipes the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs.

"Yeah well I have no control over that," I joke.

"Thanks a lot." He playfully pushes me. I laugh.

"I've decided I'm not leaving the bed today. I hope that's ok with you."

"We can cuddle here all day but we're going out to a club tonight. Like we used to."

"No. I don't want to. I'm going to have to be fighting girls off all night."

He scoffs. "Yeah right."

"Have you been out like this yet? Like out to a club?"

"No not yet. You know I don't like going out without you."

"I'm bringing a bat. No skanks are touching you. Only me."

"Nobody is going to be into me. You have nothing to worry about."

"It's a good thing I packed that slutty outfit I always wear when we go out."

"No you're not wearing that."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't want guys all over you."

"You can bring your bat too then."

"I'm not sharing. You're all mine."

"I like the sound of that."

"So you won't wear the slutty dress?"

"No I still am," I joke. He glares at me. "I'm sure I have something else to wear. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

"Why do I love you again?" he teases.

"Because I'm awesome."

No matter where we are whether it was Boston or home in Toronto Tyler and I are known for being the life of the party or club. We love to go out together and have a good time together. Massive amounts of alcohol are always consumed. A considerable amount of dancing is always involved. We made a pact that if we come together, we leave together. No hooking up. I guess we probably made those rules because we each had hidden feelings for each other. I know I wasn't comfortable with him being with other girls.

"Remember that time you almost broke the pact?" Tyler asks.

"That was 3 years ago and I didn't leave with him."

"You were two steps from walking out that door. The only reason you stopped is because I stopped you."

"Why are we talking about this right now anyway?"

"You wore the slutty dress that night. That's why I don't want you wearing it."

"I said I wasn't going to wear it. Don't worry. We're drinking tonight, right?"

"Most definitely."

"You know the last thing my dad said to me when he dropped me off at the airport? He said don't get Tyler too drunk. As if. Like I'm the instigator."

"Well you are a bad influence."

"No fucking way."

"What's he going to say when you tell him you're not coming home?"

"Oh, kidnapping me, are you? Mike probably misses me."

"He'll get over it. You already said you would stay here for the rest of the summer anyway."

"Yeah he didn't really mind when I told him I wouldn't be back."

"He's probably loving having the house all to himself."

I smile. "We can be kind of obnoxious."

"Speak for yourself."

During the summer months in the off season I live with Tyler and Michael Del Zotto in Toronto. During the season I live there by myself. While Tyler was here in Dallas, Mike and I had been living together back home and we were doing fine but it was weird without Tyler being there. Wait until he finds out what Tyler has done to his face. Wait until everyone finds out. I'm taking it pretty hard. I can't imagine how everyone else is going to take it. I love him and can accept him no matter what. Not everyone is going to be so accepting, heck, I wasn't at first.

We spend most of the rest of the day cuddling in bed. It's nice just to be near him and relax in his arms. We only left the bed to get something to eat then went right back up to the bedroom. Tyler has been working out so much lately it's probably good for him to get this amount of rest. Even though getting rest has been good I think getting out tonight is going to be good too. We are meant to be out in the night life.

When it's time to start getting ready I go into the bedroom where my clothes are to start getting ready. I really do like my slutty dress but I promised Tyler I wouldn't wear it. It's not even that slutty. That's just what we call it. I guess it's a good thing I went shopping when I first got here. I bought this black dress with horizontal pleats. It has lace covering the chest and silver sequins on the shoulders and shorts sleeves. The dress goes to about mid thigh. I think Tyler will be fine with the length. It's not too short but not too long. I head into the bathroom to style my hair and do my makeup. I walk back into the room and sit down on the bed to put my shoes on.

Tyler walks into the room and I look up. He's wearing a white button down shirt with black lining on the inside of the collar and black buttons. The shirt fits perfectly on him. Not too loose, not too tight. Just enough to show off the definition in his chest. The sleeves hug his biceps. Those tattoos of his are showing but he's looking so good that I don't even care. He has on gray pants. I'm so distracted by how good he looks I almost don't realize the black hat on his head. And it's ruined. "Lose the hat," I say as I stand up.

"Why? You like my hair?" he asks with a smirk.

"You know I do," I reply. I always tell Tyler how much I love his hair. I complain to him every time he wears a hat. He knows perfectly well that I would prefer him not to be wearing a hat tonight. He's probably wearing it to piss me off. He takes the hat off and throws it down on the bed. I walk over to him and run my fingers up his arm. "Very nice. You're looking really good."

"Really?" he asks as he looks down at himself.

"Yeah, girls are going to be drooling when they see you. I'm gonna have to keep you close by my side."

"I don't plan on leaving your side. You look amazing." He kisses me. "I'm going to do my hair then we can go." He leaves the room. This should be an interesting night. This is going to be the first time we're going to be out together with him looking like this. I know how he gets when he's drinking. I know how drunken whores can get as well. He comes back into the room to join me. "You ready?"

I walk over to him and grab a hold of his arm. "Let's go."

When we get to the club we head straight to the bar. That is usual for us. The first thing we do is get a shot to start out our night. Immediately after the shots we have our first beer.

"Come on, let's dance," Tyler says into my ear. He grabs my hand and leads me to the dance floor. He puts his hands on my hips and I wrap my arms around his neck. I can't help but look around the room and see girls are already starting to watch him. "Who are you looking for? I'm right here."

"No one but they're all looking for you."

"You're imagining things. Relax, dance, have fun....with me."

We dance for a little bit before going back to the bar for more drinks. I turn around to order our drinks and wait for the bartender to hand them to me. After I get our drinks I turn back around to see some girl with her hands on Tyler. One hand on his back, one on his chest. I put the drinks down on the bar in between Tyler and I. "Hands off," I say to her, "he's with me." She gives me a dirty look but walks away. I pick up Tyler's drink and hand it to him. "I'm not joking when I say I'm going to kill these bitches."

"I think I need another drink," he says as he takes mine.

"Hey, that's mine," I say as I take the drink back from him. "Let's go back out there."

We leave the bar and go back to dancing. The more drinks we get in us, the closer we get to each other. The lower his hands go. Every time we go to the bar for drinks more and more girls walk over to him and hit on him. They act like I'm not there, like we haven't been dancing with each other all night. Like he doesn't have his hand on my back while I order our drinks. I can tell that all of the attention is starting to stress Tyler out. He has a look of concern on his face. I worry about him. It's getting harder to keep up with his drinking. "Are you ok?" I ask.

"I'm not used to this. This never used to happen when I was ugly."

"You were never ugly so just stop."

"Let's do shots." He orders us a few rounds of shots. We down them fairly quickly. One after the other after the other after the other after the other.

After I don't even know how many shots and equal amount of drinks we stumble back onto the dance floor. I've skipped being buzzed and have gone straight to drunk. No, I'm not drunk, I'm hammered. Tyler's pretty far gone as well. He runs his hands up and down my back as we dance. I start to grind on him as he continues to run his hands all over my body.

We go back to the bar for more drinks. I know I shouldn't drink more but I need to. All these girls looking at Tyler like he's a piece of meat. I want to punch them all. I want to throw them all off a bridge actually. I order drinks for us since the bartender responds to girls faster than guys. While I'm waiting for the drinks this guy comes over to me and says, "hey, sexy, let me rock your world."

Tyler puts his hand on the guy's shoulder. "Dude, she's mine, beat it." He walks away.

"That was so hot," I say as I put my hands on his chest. He leans down to kiss me. It takes everything in me not to rip his shirt open right here and now. The bartender hands me our drinks and I give Tyler his. We drink our drink quickly and I order us another round of shots. "Can you handle another shot?"

"Of course I can."

The bartender pours us several shots and places them down on the bar top in front of us. We do our shots and I'm having a hard time staying focused. The room is spinning and I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Tyler pushes me up against the bar and kisses my neck. I put my hands on the back of his head and run my fingers through his hair. He moves to my lips and sticks his tongue in my mouth. I lift up his shirt slightly and put my hands on his stomach. I can faintly hear the bartender saying something to us about taking it outside but I don't know exactly what he's saying. Everything is becoming more and more fuzzy.

You know you had a good night when you don't even remember how you got home. The last thing I remember was Tyler kissing me at the bar. I have to force my eyes open. I look around to see where I am. I'm in bed and Tyler's next to me. I'm naked. Oh my god, I'm naked. I have absolutely no clothes on. Where are my clothes? Tyler's naked too. I'm in bed with a naked Tyler while I'm naked. What did we do last night? He's passed out on his back and fully exposed. I grab a blanket and put it over him. I should wake him up and ask him if he remembers anything. I can't remember. I'm pretty sure we had sex. I wish I could remember.

I shake Tyler's arm to wake him up. He grumbles and turns on his side. "Tyler," I say as I rub his chest. He moans and opens his eyes and looks at me. "Hi."

"Hey," he replies.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" I ask.

"Kissing you at the bar, that's the last thing I remember."

"Yeah same here actually. Do you realize we're naked?"

He lifts up the blanket and looks underneath. I quickly pull it back down. "So we are," he says before laughing.

"I think we had sex but I don't remember."

"I wish I remembered that."

"Yeah I can't remember. I can just...tell."

"I bet it was awesome."

"Probably. We're pretty good together."

He grabs me and pulls me up against him. "Let's just relax."

"Uh, we're naked." The skin of his body feels so warm up against my skin.

"So?"

"I, uh, we, yeah."

"Oh come on, it's just me. We were naked together the other night."

"You tricked me that night."

"You know you like it."

"I honestly don't know what I know right now."

"Amy, it's ok to like it."

"I do."

"So what's the problem then?"

"No problem." I rest my head on his chest and he puts his hand on the back of my head and plays with my hair. "I wish we could remember last night. I keep trying but all I can get to is you kissing me and the bartender yelling at us."

"We could always do it again."

"No, I don't think I can drink like that again."

"Sex. I'm talking about sex. Smart ass."

"Right now? Like you want to have sex right now? Shouldn't we talk about this or something?"

"No talking."

He gets on top of me and starts kissing me. I grab onto his back and pull him down closer to me. His chest touches mine and I run my hands up and down his back as we continue to kiss. He teases my lips with the tip of his tongue and I wrap my lips around his tongue and suck on it. He starts moving his hips up and down rubbing his penis on the inside of my thigh. He kisses around my ear and starts breathing heavier once I start rubbing my hand on his chest, then down to his stomach. I move my hand past his belly button and my fingers brush up against the head of his penis.

He rocks his hips into my hand and moves to kissing my neck. I grab the back of his head with one hand while I start to stroke his cock with the other. He desperately kisses my lips and sticks his tongue in my mouth. He reaches down in between my legs and rubs his finger along my clit. I start to moan as I move my hips with the rhythm of his hand. I begin stroking him faster. He starts thrusting his hips into my hand. As he starts rubbing me faster I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him down close to me. He bites down on my neck as he thrusts inside of me. "Oh god," I moan into his ear.

"Yeah, baby," he says as he rocks his hips back and forth into me. I run my fingers through his hair and rub the back of his head when he moves back to my lips. I run my tongue along his bottom lip and up around to his top lip. He picks up his pace and I run my hands down his back. He circles his palm around my nipple and caresses my breast. I grab a hold of his back as I feel my orgasm throughout my body from my toes all the way up.

"Keep going. Don't stop," I say as he thrusts harder into me. He goes faster and harder until he orgasms.

He kisses me one more time before rolling off of me and lying on his back next to me. We look over at each other and I smile. He smiles back. "That was..." I begin to say.

"Great," he says.

"Yeah. I guess we should thank drunk us for doing it last night." He puts his arm around me and I rest my head on his shoulder. "Don't you have a training session today?"

"Oh shit!" he exclaims as he bursts out of bed and into the bathroom to take a shower. He takes a quick shower and comes back out into the room to grab some clothes. He gets dressed and walks over to where I am still sitting on the bed and kisses me. "I'll see you later."

While Tyler is out training I take a shower and get dressed for the day. I go down to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. I take my sandwich out to the patio in the backyard and eat. It's a beautiful day. It's a little hard to believe that Tyler and I just had sex. I can't believe it wasn't weird for me. It's like we just clicked. It was like we had done it together so many times before. It was good. It was amazing. I just don't know what we're doing. This just adds to the confusion. After I eat I go inside to watch some TV and wait for Tyler to come home.

Tyler's training session goes longer than expected. I find myself staring at the time wondering when he's coming home. I know he was late to his session so maybe they're making him stay late but he should have been home two hours ago. He isn't answering my texts. I wonder what's keeping him.

Tyler : leaving now. sorry. I'll explain when I get home

When Tyler gets home he walks over to where I'm sitting on the couch and sits down next to me. "Were you punished for being late?" I ask.

"No, I had a meeting after training," he explains, "we have to tell my mom."

"You mean you have to tell your mom."

"You have to come with me."

"I don't know, Tyler, it's going to be really bad."

"I know, that's why I need you there."

"Why the urgency all of a sudden?" I ask.

"They want me to meet with Jamie Benn next week. They're going to do interviews and pictures and videos. I have to tell her before then."

"Jamie Benn, eh?"

"What about him?"

I smile. "Oh nothing, he's just kinda dreamy."

"Oh really?"

"He's alright."

"Getting back to what I was saying. We have to go back home."

"Ok so when do we leave?"

"In a few days. I'm going to book the flight now. I don't think I'm ready for this."

"It's going to be hard no matter when you do it. It might as well be now."

Tyler grabs his laptop and starts typing away. "We're leaving in two days. We can only stay a few days because I'll have to be back here for the meeting."

"Ok. I can get a few things while we're there since I'm going to be here for the rest of the summer."

"This is going to be rough."

"Probably but once you tell them I think you'll feel a lot better. It has to be weighing on you."

"It depends how they react."

"They will be upset but they will get over it. They love you."

He puts his arm around me and kisses my forehead. I lean my head against his. We spend the rest of the night watching TV before turning in for bed. We get into bed and Tyler holds me. I feel complete when I'm in his arms. It doesn't take me long to fall asleep.


	5. Going Back Home

Today's the day we go back home and I'm actually looking forward to it. I've been staying at Tyler's for a few weeks now and I only packed a week's worth of clothes. I need more of a variety. I love being in Dallas with Tyler but sometimes I get homesick when I'm away for too long. I've been missing Toronto and I'll be happy to be back, even if it's only for a few days.

Once we land we take a cab home from the airport. I text Mike to let him know we're on our way. Once we get dropped off Tyler and I walk inside. Mike is sitting on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table watching TV. He stands up to greet me. He looks at Tyler. "Oh, bringing guys over while I'm here? This is new."

I roll my eyes. "It's nice to see you too, Mike. Missed you too."

"Where's Tyler? I thought he was coming."

"This is Tyler. He went and changed his face on us."

He looks at Tyler and back at me. "Stop fucking around."

"I wouldn't kid you about something like this. When I got to Dallas he had already done it," I explain.

Mike continues to look at Tyler. "Yeah it's true," Tyler says.

Mike's eyes go wide. "Oh shit." He shakes hands with Tyler and they hug. "You're looking good, man. You've been working out, huh?"

"Don't encourage him," I say.

"Thanks, man," Tyler replies.

"Do you guys need me to give you privacy?" I tease.

"Smart ass," Tyler says as he squeezes me.

"I have to admit, this is a little weird," Mike says, "how long are you home for?"

"Only a few days," Tyler replies.

"You two suck," Mike complains.

"Aww did you miss me?" I ask.

"I missed him," Mike replies as he looks at Tyler. I punch him in the arm for being a prick. He laughs.

"I'm going to my room for a little bit so I can get some stuff together." I walk to my room and sit down on the bed. It seems like I haven't been home in so long. So much has changed since the last time I've been in here.

Tyler knocks on the door, opens it, and walks in. "We're going to go golfing."

"Ok, have fun."

He walks over and kisses me softly on my lips. "I'll see you later." He walks out of the room.

I look around and decide I'm not really in the mood to pack up my things right now. I still have a few days to get it done so I'm just going to relax. I just got here. Since Tyler is out with Mike I should let AnnMarie know I'm in town and have her over. I haven't seen her in a while and it'll be good to catch up.

Amy : I'm home, you should come over. The boys are out

AnnMarie : I'll be right there

Once AnnMarie gets to the house we go out on the balcony to hang out.

"I didn't know you were coming home," AnnMarie says.

"Yeah, we're only here for a few days. Tyler has to tell his family about his face. It's time. I'm not really looking forward to it."

"Poor Jackie."

"I know. I don't know what's going to happen and he's a mess over it."

"I'm sure it's going to be hard on all of them"

"I wish he would have told them to begin with. Now I have to be a part of it."

"The struggles of being best friends with Tyler Seguin."

I laugh. "Yeah. He keeps me on my toes, that's for sure." I pause. "We might be more than best friends. I don't know."

"What does that mean?"

"I told him I love him and we say it to each other all of the time. We act like we're more than friends but we haven't talked about it so I don't really know where we stand. I don't really know what he's thinking either. We, uh, also had sex."

"You did? Holy shit."

"The other night we got drunk, like really drunk. We both blacked out and when we woke up in the morning we were naked and I just knew we had sex but neither of us remembered it happening. We did it again to make sure we'd remember."

"Yeah I'd say that makes you more than just friends."

"The more time I spend with him, the more confused I become."

"Why are you confused? If you love him you love him. Not a big deal."

"Sometimes I look at him and feel like I don't know him at all. The plastic surgery is really fucking with my brain still."

"He's the same guy. You'll get used to it."

"I know. I feel like every day it get's a little better but I still have these moments where I get a little angry or sad about the whole thing."

"That's understandable. You are probably always going to have moments like that where you miss the way he was. It's human nature."

"Next week the Stars are going to present him and then everyone will know. I'm a little worried for him. You don't know how people are going to react."

"He's a grown man he can handle it. I think the way his friends and family feel mean the most to him not what people he doesn't know think."

"I guess so. I just know he's been struggling with all of this himself."

"It all takes time. You'll see, it'll all be ok."

"Totally not related to what we were just talking about. I was about to murder these girls in the club the other night. They were all over him even though he was clearly with me. I'm not used to that yet."

"I would have had to kick some ass."

"I was close."

We continue to talk for a while until the sliding glass door opens and Tyler, Mike, and Tyler's friend Jesse walk out onto the balcony with us. Tyler walks over to AnnMarie and gives her a hug. "Hey, good to see you," he says.

"You too, Tyler," she replies.

"Did you boys have fun?" I ask.

"We always have fun," Tyler says.

"Hey, Jesse," I say and Jesse nods his head.

Tyler sits down next to me. Jesse and Mike sit across from us. "Everyone else accepted the new look so quickly," Tyler says to me.

"You did not just go there," I reply as I glare at him.

"I love you," he says.

I look away. "Nope, not gonna work." He puts his hand under my chin and moves my head back towards him. He pouts out his bottom lip."Nice try, Tyler."

He laughs. "You're so adorable when you're pissed at me."

"I'm glad you find this amusing."

"You're in the doghouse now, Tyler," AnnMarie says.

"Always," Tyler replies.

"Everyone wants to bust my balls today. Do you have anything to add, Jesse?"

"Fuck no," Jesse says.

"I'm sorry, baby. It's just nice that they're comfortable with the new look. That's all I was saying," Tyler says as he puts his arm around me.

"Baby?" Mike questions.

"Yeah you got a problem with it?

"Uhh no. I just didn't know you two were together now."

"Well we kind of are," Tyler says.

"I guess a lot happened in Dallas," Mike replies.

"Yeah, you're telling me," I say. Tyler kisses me.

"This is too weird," Mike says, "It's still early, we should go out for some drinks."

"Nah, man, I'm not in the mood. We just got back," Tyler says.

"You're only back for a few days and we haven't hung out all summer," Mike whines.

"I'll be your wingman, Mike," I say.

"I don't think so," Mike replies.

"Come on, Tyler, it's only for a few drinks. It'll be fun."

"Ok, we can hang out for a little while." He looks at me. "Sorry but he's needy."

I laugh. "I'll just sunbathe nude on the balcony while you're out."

"Ha, funny," Tyler replies.

"I'm serious, I've done it before," I say.

"Yeah she has," Mike agrees.

I quickly look at him. "I knew you saw me that day!"

"What?" Tyler asks.

"I was trying to get nice and tan for Texas so for about a week while Mike was working out I laid in the sun nude. No tan lines and it just feels really nice. Anyway, Mike came home early one day and he swore he didn't see anything but I had a feeling he did," I explain. Mike looks down at the ground, embarrassed.

"I closed my eyes right away. I barely saw anything," Mike says.

"I can't believe he saw you naked before I did," Tyler says and throws his arms up.

"Calm down, it was an accident," I reply.

"I didn't even like it," Mike says.

"Ugh, you're such an ass," I reply. He smiles.

Tyler stands up and gives me a kiss before he leaves with Mike and Jesse. It sucks that they're going out after just getting home but I'm not too upset about it. Mike is right, we are only here for a few days and Tyler wasn't home all summer. I don't blame him for wanting to hang out before we have to go back to Dallas. Tomorrow we aren't going to be around because we'll be over at Tyler's mom's house and that leaves one more day that we're here and I'm not sure what we're going to be doing. I'm just surprised they want to go out this early. They're usually night drinkers.

AnnMarie hangs out with me for a little while longer before having to go back home. After she leaves the sun starts to set and I decide to fire up the fire pit and sit by the fire and relax. It's such a beautiful night. The sun setting behind the fire makes for an amazing picture. I can't help taking my phone out and snapping some pictures. It would be nice to have Tyler here enjoying this sunset with me but I do cherish the moments I have to myself to think. So much has gone on in the past month and I feel like it's all happening so fast. This gives me a chance to slow life down a bit and just enjoy the silence.

The next thing I know I'm being awoken by the feeling of an arm around me. I must have dozed off. I open my eyes and notice it's pitch black outside. The fire has dwindled down but still burning. I look to my left to see Tyler sitting next to me. He smiles once we make eye contact. "I'm sorry it's so late," he says then kisses my forehead.

"I fell asleep out here?" I ask.

"I guess so. We just got home. I couldn't find you at first then I saw the fire."

"Are you mad at me about the nude sunbathing?" I ask.

"Nah, it's fine. I'm over it. Are you mad at me for saying that thing about accepting me earlier? I wasn't trying to be mean."

"I'm not mad. Just upset with myself I guess."

"Don't be. I understand why you're having a hard time. It was just nice that the guys were ok with it, that's all."

"I get it. It can't be easy dealing with me and how I feel right now."

"I didn't say that." He kisses my lips.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" I ask as I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Not at all."

"Have you figured out what you're going to say?"

"I don't know if I'll be able to talk. When I see her heart break I'm going to lose it."

"You're just going to have to explain that you're happier this way and maybe it will be easier on her. You are happier this way, right?"

"Well I guess so."

"You're her son. She's always going to love you but you're going to have to make her understand why you did this and probably why you didn't tell her."

"I'm going to need your help."

"I can help but I'm sure she's going to have questions only you can answer."

"I know. It's not all my publicists fault. I agreed to do it. It's my fault too so I'll have to explain it. I just don't know what I'm going to say."

"She'll need time just like I did. This isn't going to be easy for either of you."

"She's going to hate it. I know it. And she'll cry and I can't do this. I'm not going."

"You have to go. I mean, unless you want her to find out from the media. That will make it so much better," I say sarcastically.

"I really don't need your sarcasm right now."

"I'm sorry. Your sister is probably going to want to kill me for lying to her."

"I'm not too concerned about Candace. She isn't very emotional about things. But my mom and Cassidy are going to be a mess."

"I know. It sucks but it has to happen."

"Yeah I guess." He sniffles and I look up at him to see there are tears in his eyes. I hug him and he rests his head on my shoulder as he wraps his arms around my waist.

"We should go to bed. It's late."

We put the rest of the fire out before going inside. We walk past my room, past Mike's room, and into Tyler's room. We lie down on the bed. Mike walks over and stands in the doorway and looks at us in the bed. "You're sleeping together now?" he asks.

"Oh my god, get over it," I reply, "but if you want him tonight I'll allow it."

"You've only been gone a few weeks. What the hell?"

"He can sleep with you tonight, you big baby," I say.

"Do I even get a say in this?" Tyler asks.

"I guess not. Mike needs you," I reply.

"Oh god, I don't want him to sleep with me," Mike says.

"You sure are acting like it," I say.

"You don't love me anymore. Is this because I look different?" Tyler teases.

"You two deserve each other. I'm going to bed." He starts walking out of the room.

"I'll be in soon!" Tyler calls out to him. Both of us start laughing.

"I'm going to go change into pajamas. I'll be right back." I walk to my room to change into a shirt and shorts to sleep in. It's been a while since i've slept in my own room. I miss my bed but I'd rather sleep next to Tyler. I turn off the light and walk back to Tyler's room and join him in bed. He's already taken his shorts and shirt off and he's lying on his back waiting for me. I sit up with him and he puts his arm around me. "Were you sleeping in my bed while I was gone?" he asks.

"Maybe," I coyly say, "how could you tell?"

"The way you put the pillow back when you made the bed,' he explains.

"I was missing you and just wanted to feel close."

"Aww, you could have come to Dallas with me."

"Yeah if I went to Dallas maybe all of this never would have happened."

"But maybe you would have never told me you loved me."

"You're right. I probably wouldn't have."

"I'm glad you told me because I love you."

"I just wish I would have told you before you changed."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. It's ok."

"It's not ok. If I would have just said it I would still have the Tyler I fell in love with."

"I thought we were moving past that."

"It's not that easy for me. Maybe it was for you but not for me."

"None of this has been easy but I probably would look this way no matter what."

"I knew it. It wouldn't have changed anything."

"I didn't realize I was going to look completely different so I would have probably still agreed not knowing the outcome."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

He gets up out of bed. "I'll go sleep in your room."

"No, I want you here."

"You're mad at me."

"I'm not mad, Tyler, please just stay."

"Ok." He gets back in bed and lies down on the edge, far away from me.

"Come closer," I say as I hold my arms out for him to cuddle up next to me. He puts his head on my chest and his hand on my stomach. "I'm sorry we keep having the same conversation about this."

"It's ok. I know I hurt you by doing this. I hate that I've made you feel this way." I run my fingers through his hair. "If I were you I wouldn't forgive me."

"Damn, then I guess I won't get that secret boob job I was going to get behind your back," I joke to try to lighten the mood.

"You don't need to change anything. You're perfect."

"So were you."

"You're the only one that thought so apparently but thank you."

"It's my fault for not telling you sooner."

"It's not your fault if I wasn't completely happy with myself."

"At least you would have known you had me in your corner."

"Yeah true, but either way we have each other and I love you and you love me. Let's sleep." He kisses me and I kiss him back. We settle in for the night and I drift off to sleep holding him in my arms.


	6. It's Me, Mom

In the morning I wake up to the sound of Tyler's voice. He's talking to someone, I assume Mike, until I open my eyes. His back is to me but I can tell he's on the phone. I reach over and rub his back. He looks over his shoulder at me and smiles. "Yeah, mom, Amy and I will be over around noon. Make sure Candace and Cassidy will be there. I need to talk to them too. No, I promise I'm ok. We'll see you in a few hours. I love you. Bye." He ends the call and lies down on his back and looks at me. "Good morning."

I kiss his lips and I lift my head up. He grabs the back of my head and pulls me back down and kisses me. "Good morning," I say.

"Just talked to my mom."

"Yeah I heard."

"I better start getting ready."

"Do you want me to make breakfast?"

"That would be great although I don't know how hungry I'll be."

I get up out of the bed and walk to the kitchen. Mike is sitting at the kitchen table staring at a cup of orange juice. "Good morning, Mike," I say as I walk behind him to the fridge. He just grunts at me. "Rough night?"

"Didn't get much sleep," he mumbles.

"Do you want something to eat? I'm making breakfast."

"Yeah that would be great."

I grab eggs, sausage, cheese, and bacon out of the fridge. I'm going to make us all omelettes and bacon. Usually Mike does the cooking but he looks like he's about to fall asleep right at the table. While I'm making breakfast Tyler walks into the kitchen and joins Mike at the table. "It looks like you need coffee, not orange juice," Tyler says to Mike.

"I keep staring at it wishing it were coffee but I can't muster up the energy to get up," Mike replies.

"I'll make you coffee, Mike," I say, "I don't want you falling asleep in your eggs."

"Thanks."

"It smells so good, babe," Tyler says.

"Thank you. It's almost done."

"Still not used to you calling her babe," Mike mumbles, "it's weird."

"Sorry, sweet cheeks," Tyler replies. I laugh.

I finish up breakfast and put the food on the plates in front of the guys. I start Mike's coffee and sit down with my food. I look at Mike and Tyler who are sitting across from me and smile. It's almost like things are like they used to be. The three of us eating breakfast together. Mike's coffee finishes and I pour him a mug and put some milk in for him. I don't know why he's so tired but he can barely keep his eyes open. I place the mug down in front of him and sit down to continue eating my breakfast.

"This is really good, thank you, Amy," Mike says.

"Is that a compliment Del Zotto?" I ask. I'm not used to hearing many nice things from him.

He looks up at me from his coffee. "Alright, maybe I missed you being around a little bit," he confesses.

"I knew it," I say, "you do love me."

The three of us finish up our breakfast and I walk into my bathroom to get ready for the day. I take a little longer than usual in the shower. I'm a little nervous about how today is going to go. I'm worried for Tyler. What if they don't take it as well as I think they will? I know he's worried about breaking his mom's heart. At one point I hear the door to my bathroom open. "Are you ok? You've been in here a while," Tyler says.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm almost done."

"Ok good. I'll let you finish up."

I finish my shower and step out to dry off. I walk out into my room to get dressed. Tyler joins me while I'm picking out my clothes. I get dressed and sit down on my bed Tyler sits down next to me and puts his arm around my back. "I'm not ready for this," Tyler says.

"You never will be but it has to be done."

"I know."

"I'm going to be right there with you."

"I love you, you know that?"

"Yeah I know."

"We should get going."

We head out to the car and head to Tyler's mom's house. The ride there is quiet. I can tell Tyler is deep in thought. He's probably trying to figure out just what to say. It's a long half hour of silence. I don't want to bother him while he's thinking. I know how important this is to him and how hard it's been for him to figure out just how to tell them. Tyler pulls up to the house and puts the car in park. I open the door to get out of the car but he doesn't move. "Are you ok?" I ask.

"Yeah I just need a minute," he replies. We sit in the car for a few minutes. Tyler stares at the house and I look out the windshield, glancing over at him every few seconds. Without saying anything he opens the door and steps out. I get out of the car and walk with him up to the house. He rings the doorbell and we wait for someone to answer the door. He holds onto my hand and squeezes it., I squeeze his hand back.

Candace opens the door and gives me a hug as soon as she sees me. Tyler and I walk into the house. She leans in and whispers in my ear, "your new boyfriend is so hot."

"He's not my boyfriend but he's someone that you know."

"Yeah. I know him because you tweeted about him."

Tyler and I sit down on the couch which Jackie and Cassidy join us. Everyone is here. Tyler takes a deep breath. "Tyler has something he needs to talk to you about," I say.

"Yeah, that's why we're here. Where is Tyler? Is he on his way?" Jackie asks.

Tyler and I exchange glances. "Hi, guys," he says as he looks down at the floor. "It's me. It's Tyler."

"It can't be you," Jackie says.

"It's me, mom," Tyler replies.

She looks at him and studies his face. It reminds me of the way I had to really stare at him to realize it was him. She has pain on her face. It's like she knows but doesn't want to believe it. Is this the way I look when I look at him? "His eyes haven't changed," I say. That's what helped me, his eyes.

He looks up from the floor and at her. "Oh my god, Tyler it's really you," she says as she puts her hands over her mouth.

"Yeah, it's me," he replies.

"Why would you do this?" she asks.

He opens his mouth to talk but closes it right away. Tears well up in his eyes and start rolling down his cheeks. "When Tyler got traded he hired a publicist to help him get endorsements and in other ways to help further his career. She suggested he get plastic surgery to help with his looks. She told him that would help with the endorsements especially. He agreed because he thought they were only going to make subtle changes. Obviously he was lied to," I explain.

"They changed everything," Jackie says, "Nothing resembles my son."

Tyler hangs his head. "Yeah I know."

"Why didn't you tell us? Why wait so long?" Jackie questions.

"I was afraid you'd hate me. I didn't think I would look this different," he explains.

"I wish you would have told me first. We could have talked about it."

"I know I should have."

"Why is everyone so upset? He looks good," Candace says.

"Shut up, Candace," Cassidy replies.

"Your brother shouldn't have thought that this is what he needed to do," Jackie says to Candace.

"Well it worked. I have companies wanting me to promote their products now," Tyler says.

"See," Candace says.

"If that's what's important to you then I'm happy for you," Jackie replies.

"It was a career move."

Jackie looks at me and asks, "did you know about this?"

"I didn't know until after he had done it. I'm still having trouble adjusting," I explain.

"Mom, she wasn't involved," Tyler says.

"If I knew, this wouldn't have happened," I say.

"Please don't start," Tyler says.

"We would have supported you if you came to us from the beginning," Jackie says.

"I know, mom. I understand if you're mad and I understand if you're upset and uncomfortable. I'm so sorry." He starts crying and covers his face with his hands.

Jackie stands up and sits down on the other side of him. She puts her hand on the side of his face and lifts his chin up. "Tyler, please don't cry."

"I just want you to still love me."

"I will always love you." She hugs him. "You're my son. It's going to take some getting used to but this doesn't make me love you any less."

Tyler looks over at Cassidy who has been quiet. "Cas, you ok?" he asks.

"It can't be you," she replies.

"It's ok if you don't accept it right away. This is a big change. He's still your brother, though," I say.

"I understand that you need some time," Tyler says.

"It took me a while to be able to look at him," I say.

"She locked herself in my guest room for a few days," Tyler says. She lets out a small laugh.

"I kept saying I was going to leave but never did because I still love him," I explain.

"I can't do this right now," Cassidy says. She stands up and goes upstairs. She slams her bedroom door.

Tyler stands up and I grab his hand. "I should probably go talk to her," I say. He sits back down. I walk upstairs to Cassidy's room and knock on her door.

"Go away," she snaps.

"It's Amy."

She opens the door. "I thought it was him."

"You mean Tyler."

"I can't even call him that. That's not my brother."

I walk into her room and sit down on her bed. Cassidy closes the door and sits down next to me. "I know how confusing it is to look at him and think it's a stranger but he's the same person. He acts like Tyler, he sounds like Tyler."

"I don't care, I want my brother back."

"I do too but we can't have him. He's not here anymore." She starts sobbing. I put my arm around her back.

"You seem ok with it. Candace doesn't care. My mom is sad but can accept it. I can't."

"Candace has her own way of dealing with things, you know that. I'm trying my best to be ok with it. Sometimes I look at him and want to cry because it's not the Tyler I want to be in front of me but there's nothing I can do about it. I love him no matter what and eventually I'll accept it. You will too."

"So you don't like the way he looks?"

"I do. It's just different."

"Oh."

There's a knock at the door and we both look up. Tyler peeks his head into the room. I pick up a pillow and throw it at him and it hits him in the face. "Cas, can I talk to you?" he asks.

"I'll leave you two alone," I say as I stand up. I walk downstairs and rejoin Candace and Jackie on the couch.

"So now that Tyler's out of the room how are you really handling all of this?" Jackie asks.

"Honestly sometimes I'm fine and other times it's hard for me to look at him," I confess.

"I think he's good looking but it's definitely weird knowing that's Tyler," Candace says.

"Yeah, he's good looking but it's not the same. Sometimes he smiles and I think to myself I don't know that smile. I want the smile I know back."

"It will get easier. Right now I think we are all in shock," Jackie says.

"I'm definitely better than I was a few weeks ago. I couldn't even be in the same room with him."

"You really locked yourself in the guest room?" Candace asks.

"I did."

"How did he get you out?"

"Little by little I came around. He woke me up one morning when I fell asleep on the couch. One night he made dinner and asked me to join him."

"He seems to be taking it kind of hard too."

"I think he likes the way he looks now but it was unexpected so he's still adjusting as well."

"Are you going back with him or staying home?" Jackie asks.

"I told him I'd stay with him in Dallas until the end of the summer."

"Good. I know you'll take care of him."

Tyler comes downstairs and joins us. "Is she ok?" I ask.

"Ehh, a little better," he replies.

"Just give her time. I know how she feels."

He sighs. "Yeah I know." He hugs me. "Thank you so much." He kisses my cheek.

"For what?"

"For being here for me and loving me even though I broke your heart."

"My heart isn't broken, just hurting."

"You two are disgusting," Candace says. I laugh.

"Are you going to be staying for dinner?" Jackie asks.

"Of course," Tyler replies.

"Great, I don't get to see you much anymore."

"I know, mom."

Tyler, Candace, and I watch TV while Jackie makes dinner. I lean against Tyler and he puts his arm around me. "There's something different about you two," Candace says, "and I'm not talking about Tyler's face."

"He's got those tattoos all over his arms," I say, "come on, show her."

Tyler pushes his sleeves up and Candace scoots close so she can get a good look at them. "Were you angry at your skin or something?" she asks.

"I like them," Tyler says.

"I think you're the only one," I tease.

"Hey, you're starting to like them, don't even lie," Tyler replies.

"I think it's the way you look at each other," Candace says, "what's different, I mean." Tyler and I look at each other and back at her. "You're like in love or something, aren't you?"

"Something like that," I reply.

"That's cute," she says. She looks at Tyler. "You should have told mom before you did this to yourself."

He rolls his eyes. "I know, Candace. There's nothing I can do about that now."

"Yeah I know but you're going to leave and go back to Dallas and I'm going to be here dealing with her and Cassidy."

"I'm sorry. Going into this I really didn't think I would hurt so many people," Tyler says.

"This all will pass and things will be back to normal one of these days," I reply.

"I'm fine with it," Candace says.

"It's ok if you're not, though," Tyler replies, " I would understand."

"Tyler, Candace, come set the table. Dinner's almost ready," Jackie calls from the other room.

Tyler and Candace get up from the couch and walk into the kitchen to set the table. I stand up and join them in the dining room to help them set the table. Jackie starts bringing the food into the dining room and places it on the table. I walk into the kitchen and pour all of us drinks and bring them into the dining room and place the glasses on the table. Candace and Tyler sit down in their seats at the table. Jackie sits down at the head of the table. I sit down next to Tyler. We start to fill our plates with food when Cassidy walks into the room and sits down across from me. "Nice of you to join us," Candace says.

"Be nice to your sister," Jackie replies.

Cassidy grabs some food for herself and looks down at the table while she eats. It's pretty quiet while we eat. Nobody says anything. We barely look at each other. It's not really an awkward silence, just silence. Today has been an emotional day for everyone involved. After we eat dinner I help Candace clear the table. Cassidy walks into the living room and sits down on the couch and turns on the TV. Tyler follows her and sits down next to her. "Hey," he says as he nudges her. Candace and I sit down on the loveseat across from the couch.

"You're so annoying, go away," she says as she pushes him.

"I love you, sis," Tyler says as he hugs her.

"They couldn't have taken your annoyingness away when they were changing everything?" she asks.

"Hey! That's not nice," he whines. He squeezes her tighter.

"Amy, save me!" she calls out.

I get up off of the love seat and grab Tyler by the arm, trying to pull Tyler off of her. Tyler puts his arm around my waist and pulls me onto his lap and holds onto me tightly. "I'm sorry, Cas, your brother has been working out and is stronger than he used to be."

Candace gets up and jumps on top of us and we all fall off the couch and onto the floor. We all start hysterically laughing. Tyler and Cassidy get up off of the floor and sit down on the couch. Candace and I return to the loveseat. Tyler puts his arm around Cassidy and surprisingly she lets him. Jackie puts a movie on and joins Tyler and Cassidy on the couch. I put my arm around Candace and she leans against me. I look over at Tyler and smile wide. He laughs and shakes his head.

"So when are you guys going back to Dallas?" Candace asks.

"Day after tomorrow," Tyler replies.

"We never get to see you very long anymore," Cassidy complains.

"I thought you didn't like me anymore."

"I just miss you."

"I'm not always going to spend my whole summer away from home. I have to go back and do this press conference in a few days or I would stay longer. Believe me, I miss you guys too."

"After the press conference can you come back here for a week? How am I supposed to get used to this if I don't even see you?" Cassidy questions.

"I'll snapchat you every second."

She hangs her head. "It's not the same."

"I'll try to get back before camp starts, ok?"

"Ok. It's just that we used to be so close and finally you come back home and you look so different."

He pulls her closer to him. "I'm sorry."

"So, Ty, did you show mom and Cas your tattoos?" Candace asks.

Tyler glares at her. "Thanks a lot for that."

"What tattoos?" Jackie asks.

"I got some tattoos, mom, it's not a big deal."

"I want to see them," Cassidy says. Tyler pushes his sleeves up. "This is your idea of some?"

"You don't like them?" he asks, "over here I have all your birth years. See, I think of you. You guys are the most important to me."

"Oh, Tyler," Jackie says.

"They're not all that bad," I say, "I mean, I guess."

"I knew you liked them," he replies.

"They're growing on me," I admit.

"Watch out, Amy, that may be what happened to him," Candace says. Tyler throws a pillow at her.

"It's getting late. We should get going," Tyler says as he stands up.

"Can you come over tomorrow?" Cassidy asks.

"Yeah we can. We don't have anything planned," Tyler replies.

"I'm comfortable. I don't think I'm leaving," I say.

"She likes me better, Ty," Candace says with a smile.

"Come on, we're going," Tyler says as he grabs my hand and pulls me up off of the couch.

"Nooooooooooo!" Candace exclaims as she reaches for me.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Tyler says as he shakes his head at us. He walks over to Jackie and hugs her. "Love you, mom." She hugs him back and kisses his cheek. He hugs Candace. "Bye, pain in the ass, see you tomorrow."

"You know you love me, you jerk," she replies.

"I need to hug Candace goodbye," I say as I walk over to her.

"No you don't," he says as he grabs my arm to stop me.

He walks over to Cassidy who is still on the couch. He sits down next to her and hugs her. She rests her head on his shoulder and hugs him back. "Bye, Tyler," she says as she squeezes him tighter.

"I can't leave if you're holding onto me so tightly."

She lets go. "Sorry."

"It's ok. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'd give everyone a hug but I'm not allowed," I say jokingly.

"Because you'll be here for another hour," Tyler retorts.

"It was good seeing you kids," Jackie says.

I wave goodbye to everyone and we walk outside to the car. Once we're on our way back home I say, "that went better than I thought."

"It wasn't great but it was ok," Tyler replies.

"Cassidy already started coming around. I'd call today a success."

"You're the only one who needed a week to warm up to it," he teases.

"Shut up," I mumble. He laughs.

When we pull up to the house I see Jesse's car parked outside and I know that I'll probably be sleeping alone tonight. After Tyler parks the car we get out and walk inside. Mike and Jesse are sitting in the kitchen talking. "Oh good, you're home," Mike says, "you're coming out with us."

Tyler looks at me. "You can go," I say.

"You need her permission now?" Jesse asks. I shoot daggers at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

"Yeah I know," I say. Jesse's a little afraid of me. One night we were all out drinking and he started coming onto me strong. He kept asking me to come back home with him and I kept telling him no and finally I had enough and I punched him in the face. That was the first and only time I've ever hit anybody. Every once in a while they'll bring it up to tease him. But ever since then he's been a little timid around me.

"Careful, Jesse, you don't want to make her too mad," Mike says. Tyler laughs. Jesse rolls his eyes.

"I'll see you guys later,"I say.

"You can come with us," Tyler replies. Mike smacks him in the arm with the back of his hand and Jesse just glares at him.

"No that's ok. You guys have fun. I'll probably be sleeping by the time you get home."

Tyler kisses me. "Save room for me."

"Ew," Mike says.

"Love you too, Mike," I say with a smile.

"Come on, guys, let's go," Jesse says.

The three of them leave. This sucks. I used to hang out with them all the time with no problems but now all of a sudden they don't want me around. I am a little tired but I was hoping Tyler and I could cuddle in the bed a little before falling asleep. Who knows what time they're going to be getting home. I walk into Tyler's room and change into pajamas and get into bed. It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep.

I'm awoken by Tyler lying on top of me. "I said save me room," he says into my ear.

"How much did you drink? Did you bring the bar home with you?" He reeks of alcohol.

"Not that much," he slurs.

"Get off, Tyler, I'm sleeping," I whine.

"No." I roll away from him and he grabs me and pulls me back towards him. He starts kissing my neck.

"Not now, Tyler," I say as I push him away.

"Mike's not here."

"No. You're drunk and I'm sleepy."

"I'm drunk and I'm horny. The other guys went home with girls. I turned them all down and came home to you."

"All? Just how many girls did you have to turn down?"

"No that's not what I meant. Come on, get naked."

"By the time I actually get in the mood you'll be passed out and I don't need that."

"Fine," he huffs. He takes his shirt and pants off and lies down next to me. "Will you at least turn around and lay with me?"

"If you really want me to." I rest my head on his chest and and he puts his arm around me. I fall back asleep almost immediately.


	7. You've Changed

In the morning I wake up to Mike snuggling up next to me. I open my eyes and his face is right next to mine on my pillow. "Mike, what are you doing?" I ask.

He slowly opens his eyes. "Sorry, I thought this was my bed," he says.

"Why aren't you getting up?" I ask.

"I just got comfortable," he replies.

"Alright just keep your hands to yourself," I say.

"But what if I want to touch Tyler?" he asks.

Tyler opens his eyes. "What the fuck is he doing here?"

"Wrong room. Too tired. Comfy," Mike mumbles, half asleep.

"Don't forget which side of you I'm on," Tyler says to me.

"I'm going back to bed," I say as I close my eyes.

I wake up to both Tyler and Mike holding onto me. I have to get out of this bed. There's not enough room for the three of us. I try to move but they both tighten their grasp on me. I want to just push Mike off the bed but I won't. Why did I let him stay? I look at the time. We have to start getting ready soon. Mike opens his eyes and they go wide when he sees me. "What am I doing here?" he asks.

"You don't remember?" I reply.

He looks over me at Tyler, who is still sleeping. "Oh god, no. What happened?"

"We had so much sex," I say convincingly.

"We did?"

"Oh yeah. It was so hot." I can't keep a straight face any longer and burst out laughing.

"I hate you," Mike says as he playfully pushes me.

"That's not what you were saying last night," I tease.

"Was it as good for you guys as it was for me?" Tyler chimes in. I look at him and laugh.

"I'm going to my bed," Mike says as he gets up. He walks out of Tyler's room and across the hall to his room.

"We have to start getting ready," I say, "It's already 11."

"Yeah I'm going to shower. You should join me. You owe me from last night."

"I don't owe you shit but I'll shower with you."

I close the door to the bedroom and take my clothes off while Tyler gets the shower ready. I walk into the bathroom and smack him on the ass. He looks back at me and smiles before putting his arms around me. He leans down and kisses me. He steps into the shower and I follow behind him. I put shampoo in my hair before squeezing some body wash on the loofa. "So really, how many girls did you have to turn down last night?" I ask. I can't shake the jealous feeling I've had since he said that to me.

"It wasn't that many," he replies.

"One is too many, Tyler."

"I have no control over that."

"I'm coming next time no matter how much those guys want to cry about it."

"Ohh, someone's jealous."

"I just don't trust drunken whores hitting on my man."

"Your man?"

"Well yeah."

"They don't have anything on you. Don't worry."

"I'll cut a bitch is all I'm trying to say."

He laughs. "That's hot."

After we get out of the shower I wrap a towel around myself and walk down the hall to my room to get dressed. I still have to pack up some more clothes. I'll have to do that once we get back from Tyler's mom's house. We leave tomorrow and we still haven't visited my parents. They would kill me if they found out I was in town and didn't visit. I've stayed in Dallas longer than expected and my dad has been asking when I'm coming back home. I haven't told him that I've decided to stay for the rest of the summer. My dad isn't one of those overbearing, overprotective dads but at the same time he likes to keep up with what I'm doing.

After I put my bathing suit on and my clothes on top I walk back into Tyler's room. He has his swim trunks on and hasn't chosen a shirt to wear yet. "You should probably just go like that," I say as I walk over to him.

"Oh yeah?"

"I know I'm satisfied," I say as I put my hands on his chest. He puts his hands on my waist and leans down to kiss me. He grabs a shirt from his dresser and puts it on. "Aww now my day's ruined."

"You turned down sex. That's not my fault."

"Just finish getting dressed."

After we finish getting ready Tyler drives us to his mom's house. The plan is to stay in the pool all day. Jackie is going to be grilling up some burgers. I can't wait. Jackie always has the best food. As soon as we get to the house we walk out into the backyard where Jackie, Cassidy, and Candace already are. We hug the three of them hello. I walk inside to take my clothes off. Tyler joins me. I take my shorts and shirt off and put them in my bag. I grab a towel out of a bag and drape it over my shoulder. I give Tyler his towel after he takes his shirt off. He puts his arm around my back. "We look good together," he says.

"We do, don't we?" I reply, "come on, let's get out there."

We walk outside in the backyard and I put my towel down on a lounge chair. I walk into the pool and dip down under the surface of the water to get my head wet. Tyler jumps in and lands right next to me. He swims over to Candace and splashes her and she splashes him back. Cassidy is sitting on a chair alongside of the pool watching us. I swim over to where she's sitting. "Are you coming in, Cas?"

"Soon."

"Hurry up. You're missing out on all of the fun."

I swim over to where Candace is standing, which is on the other side of the pool close to where Jackie is grilling. "How are you doing?" I ask.

"I'm doing great."

"You know you can talk to me if you need to."

She looks at me and smiles. "I appreciate that."

Tyler's phone starts ringing and he climbs out of the pool and dries his hands off. "Hey, what's up? Really? Awesome. Yeah I'm interested, of course I am. Ok cool, thank you." He puts his phone down on his towel.

"What was that about?" I ask.

"That was my publicist." The mention of her makes me sick. I roll my eyes and snarl. "She said ESPN wants me to be a part of of their body issue."

"What is that?" Jackie asks.

"Tyler is going to pose naked in some magazine," Candace replies.

"Oh no he's not," I say.

"Uhh, yeah I am," Tyler says

"I can't believe this." I pull myself out of the pool, grab my towel, dry off, and walk inside the house.

Tyler follows after me. "Amy, what's wrong? Why are you so upset about this?"

"The old Tyler would never pose naked for the entire world to see."

"Babe, this is a good opportunity for me."

"Don't call me babe," I snap. He starts to hug me and I pull away. "Don't touch me. I'm going to call Mike to come pick me up. You don't have to leave but I need to."

"Oh come on, don't leave," he pleads.

"Maybe I'll just stay in Toronto instead of going back with you."

"Please don't. I want you to come back to Dallas with me."

"I don't even know who you are anymore."

"I'm me. There's nothing wrong with doing this. A lot of athletes are doing the body issue."

"If they jumped off a bridge would you do it too?"

"Oh come on, that's not fair."

"It's bad enough I don't recognize you when I look at you but now you're not even acting like yourself."

"I am acting like me."

"Maybe you haven't noticed it but you have changed."

"I haven't changed. I'm still the same person."

"The old Tyler would not even entertain the thought of being naked in front of everyone."

"Maybe I have more confidence. More self-esteem but that's not a bad thing."

"If that's how you want to justify it then fine but you still have changed."

"So I guess you don't like me this way? Don't be jealous about other girls paying attention to me, other girls aren't important to me."

"This isn't what I'm used to. I don't know how I feel anymore."

"I know you're not used to it, but can you get used to it? Give this me a chance."

"I'm trying. Every time I think I'm ok something comes up that reminds me that you're not the same anymore."

"I don't mean to disappoint you, I really don't."

"This is so exhausting, Tyler."

"So you don't want to be around me anymore? The Amy I know would want to spend time with me no matter what."

"Oh so I'm the one who's changed, ok."

"No I didn't say that. You always liked spending time with me. Now it's a struggle." I hang my head. "Can I hug you?"

"That's probably not a good idea right now."

"But, Amy, I love you."

"I love you too, I do, but all of this change is overwhelming."

"I'm sorry, you're right. I've changed... maybe too much. I''m trying to be the person I was before and I'm just not." He puts his head in his hands.

"I just don't know what to do, Ty."

"Love me for who I am now."

"I want to."

"Maybe you have to stop trying to compare the new me with the old me."

"I know I have to but it's not easy."

"Please don't go. We're so good together and I hate when we're apart."

I sigh. "Ok, I'll stay."

"What about Dallas? Are you coming back with me?"

"I guess."

"Wow don't sound so excited to be with me. If you really don't want to come you don't have to."

"I gotta meet Jamie Benn right?" I tease.

"I already told you that's not happening."

"Oh come on."

"I don't want you drooling all over my new teammate."

"I won't drool, I promise."

"Are you attracted to him more than me?"

"Of course not."

"I don't believe you."

"Fine I won't go with you. I thought I'd be supportive"

"You can come, it just makes me jealous when you talk about him."

"You don't even have to introduce me. I want to be there for you." He hugs me. "You talk about being jealous when I mention Jamie Benn and yet I have to deal with you posing nude."

"The important parts will be covered."

"They better be."

"Let's go back outside. They probably think we left."

We walk back outside and go back into the pool. Candace swims over to me. "So, are you pissed at him?"

"Oh yeah," I reply.

"Are you gonna stay here with me then?"

"Nope, I'm still going back with him."

"Damn, you've got it bad."

"Shut up, I know I do."

"So cute," Tyler says then kisses my cheek.

"You better not let mom see you being all lovey. You're gonna have to explain to her," Candace says to Tyler.

"I'll be as lovey as I want." He wraps his arms around me and starts kissing my neck.

"Ew," Candace whines.

Jackie comes back outside from in the house with a tray of drinks. I try to push Tyler off of me. "It's ok," Tyler says, with his back to Jackie. I don't think he knows she's out here.

"So embarrassing," I say.

"Me kissing you isn't embarrassing."

"Tyler," Jackie says.

Tyler quickly turns around. "Oh hi, mom."

"What are you two doing?" Jackie asks.

"Busted!" Candace teases.

"Well..." Tyler begins to say.

"They're in love and it's disgusting," Candace interrupts.

"Oh really?" Jackie asks.

I cover my face from embarrassment. "Yeah I love her and she loves me."

"Tyler, be quiet," I snip.

"Why? I'm not ashamed of loving you."

"Yeah but maybe its too much."

"If he is with someone I'm glad it's you, Amy," Jackie says.

"See, everything's fine," Tyler says.

"We are protective of him with girls he dates but you're like my daughter already, and the girls love you too," Jackie says.

"Told ya, baby," Tyler says then hugs me.

"Please, you were all stuttering," I reply.

"I'm not afraid of my mom," he mutters.

"Come on out of the pool, kids, food is almost ready," Jackie says. We all get out of the pool and gather around the patio table after drying off. Jackie places a plate of buns and burgers on the table and we help ourselves. "So, Tyler, about this magazine thing you're doing, what exactly are you going to be doing?"

"Posing naked," Candace replies.

"Shut up, Candace, how do you even know about that?" Tyler snaps, "it's not as bad as it sounds."

"I don't know how naked could sound good," Jackie replies, "why would you want everyone to see everything anyway?"

"Mom, they're not going to see everything."

"They're going to see enough," I chime in.

"Oh my god, I worked so hard on getting my body like this. You guys don't understand," Tyler says then folds his arms across his chest in frustration.

"How are your fans even supposed to know it's you?" Cassidy asks.

"This will help introduce them to the new me," Tyler replies, "it will all be explained next week." He looks down at the table. "I thought of all people my family would support me on this."

"It's a lot to happen all at once, Tyler, you have to understand that," I say as I put my hand on his knee.

"This is just a really good opportunity for me," he explains.

"How are your Boston fans going to take this?" Candace asks, "they loved you."

"Yeah when I tweeted that picture they were all freaking out that I got a new best friend," I say.

Tyler rolls his eyes. "I did not come here to get ganged up on."

Cassidy hugs him. "We are just worried, that's all."

Tyler smiles. "I knew you'd come around."

She lets go. "Ewww." He grabs her and hugs her.

After we finish eating we all go inside and change into our clothes. We are done swimming for the day. We only hang out for a little while longer before we decide to go back home. It's been an exhausting few days. Once we get home Tyler and Mike go out onto the balcony and I decide to call my dad to let him know we're going to be visiting tomorrow before we leave to go back to Dallas.

"Hey, dad, I'm in town. Tyler and I were going to stop over tomorrow. Is that ok?"

"Oh Amy, this is such bad timing. We aren't home. We won't be home for two weeks," my dad says.

"Where are you?" I ask.

"Your mother and I are in Italy."

"You've got to be kidding me, dad, I want to go to Italy," I whine.

"I thought you decided to stay in Dallas with Tyler. You never bothered to let me know you were staying longer so we left without you."

"Man, I really wanted to go."

"Are you having fun with Tyler?" he asks.

"Yeah I am."

"Then don't worry about it. You can go next year. We'll talk more when I get back. Tell Tyler I say hey."

"Yeah I will. Have fun in Italy."

"Have fun in Dallas. Love you."

"Love you too."

I end the call and join Tyler and Mike out on the balcony. They have the fire pit going and they're sitting next to each other on the bench. "You two look cozy," I tease, "my dad says hi, by the way."

"Hi, dad," Tyler and Mike say at the same time.

"Cute. Can you believe they went to Italy without me?"

"But you'd much rather be with me, right?" Tyler asks.

"I guess." Mike laughs. "Shut it, Mike." I walk over and sit in between Tyler and Mike. "I guess I would rather be here with my boys."

Tyler puts his arm around me and kisses the top of my head. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go when the season is over."

"Thanks, Tyler."

"I'll take you anywhere you want to go," Mike says in a mocking tone.

I push Mike. "Shut up, Del Zotto."

"You're in trouble now, Mike. She's using the last name," Tyler says.

I stand up. "I think I'm heading to bed." I look at Tyler. "Coming?"

"In a little bit," Tyler replies.

"Alright. See you in a little bit I guess. Goodnight, Mike."

"Goodnight, Amy," Mike says with a wave.

I walk inside and down the hall to Tyler's room to change into my pajamas and get ready for bed. I lie down in the bed and stare at the ceiling. I thought Tyler would have come to bed with me. I thought I gave him the look that told him he might be getting lucky. Maybe my look was off or something. He probably didn't even realize. I didn't want to just come right out and say it with Mike right there. I thought that asking him to come to bed with me would have been enough. Oh well, I'm kind of tired anyway. It just would have been nice to have an intimate moment. I have half a mind to just go into my room and sleep there tonight but I'm not going to be that dramatic. I'll probably be asleep by the time he gets in here anyway.

I feel like I just started drifting off to sleep when Tyler comes into the room. I don't know exactly how long I've been waiting for him but it feels like it might have been a few hours. He sits on the edge of the bed to get undressed, I open my eyes and squint to try to look up at him. I'm pretty much forcing my eyes to be open and this is as much as I'm going to get from them. I'm too tired to form words so I make a grunting type noise to let Tyler know I'm awake. "Oh hey, I didn't mean to wake you," Tyler says as he looks down at me.

"It's ok," I mumble as I turn over on my side from my back. "I didn't realize you'd take so long."

"Me and Mike got to talking. The time got away from us."

"I'm surprised you didn't come to bed with me right away."

"I wasn't that tired."

"Yeah, well, neither was I."

"You should have stayed out there with us then."

I roll my eyes. I should be used to it by now. It usually takes extra time for Tyler to understand what I'm trying to say. I thought I was being pretty clear here without coming right out and saying 'I wanted sex, you idiot.' I guess I should know better than to beat around the bush with Tyler, though. "I was fine in here by myself."

"Come closer to me."

"Ugh. Go sleep with Mike. No, actually maybe I will. He's a good cuddler. Found that out this morning."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Tyler, I'm going back to sleep. You just stay over on your side of the bed."

I pull the blanket up to my chin and turn on my side with my back to him. "Ok. Not sure what's going on but goodnight."

I look over my shoulder at Tyler who is all the way on the other side of the bed, almost hanging off of the edge. He has his back to me. I'm starting to feel a little guilty I snapped at him. He doesn't know why I'm mad, although that is a part of the reason. "Ty." He looks over his shoulder at me. I sigh. "Come here." He turns over and comes closer to me. "I just wanted you to come into bed with me."

"You should have just told me." He kisses me on the tip of my nose. "I would have come."

"There will be time for sex when we get back home."

"Wait you wanted sex?"

"Oh my god, Tyler."

"We could have sex right now."

"Uh no, I'm going to sleep. I'm tired."

"Well now I feel dumb. You wanted sex and I stayed out there and talked to Mike."

"I'll just come right out and say it next time. Let's just go to sleep." He wraps his arms around me and we fall asleep.


	8. Tyler Meets Jamie

In the morning before we have to leave for the airport I go into my room and pack the clothes I was supposed to pack a few days ago. I always manage to wait until the last moment to do things. Mike walks into Tyler's room to wake him up while I head into the bathroom to shower. Once I get dressed Mike helps me bring the luggage out to his car. We get back inside and Tyler is ready to go. Mike drives us to the airport and we get on our way back to Dallas.

We've been back in Dallas for a few days now. Tyler is really nervous about the media event that the Stars have scheduled for today. Once it gets out that he's gotten plastic surgery everything will be changed forever. I keep trying to tell him it's going to be ok but he's still nervous. "Do you think my Boston fans will hate me?" he asks while we drive to the practice facility.

"They're not going to hate you. They'll probably just be confused but they'll get used to it."

"I feel sick to my stomach."

"You're going to be fine. You are great at talking to the media."

"I just know they're going to ask about my surgery and not about the hockey. I just want to talk about hockey."

"It's inevitable that they ask about the surgery. You're not going to be able to avoid that for a while. Eventually it'll all be about the hockey again."

"Maybe they'll ask Jamie a bunch of questions."

"Just go with the flow, Ty. I don't think it's going to be as bad as you're imagining it'll be."

"I guess we'll find out soon." He pulls into the parking lot and parks. "Here we go."

We walk into the practice facility and Tyler goes to meet with the GM, head coach and Jamie Benn. I take a seat in one of the chairs they have set up for the media to sit in. I have to admit that I'm just a little bit nervous for Tyler. You just don't know how brutal the media can be. This is something that hasn't really happened before in sports. We aren't waiting long before Jim Nill, Lindy Ruff, Jamie Benn, and Tyler walk out and sit at the table that is set up with microphones on it. The room is a buzz about Tyler's appearance. They're not being negative about it, more curious than anything. There is a mix of hockey questions and questions about Tyler's surgery. It's not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. They're being surprisingly accepting.

Tyler and Jamie seem to have good chemistry right away. They play off each other well. Tyler looks happy up there, like he's having a good time. I think everything's going to be ok. I'm going to miss Boston and the guys there but it seems like Tyler is going to be a good fit here in Dallas.

After the press conference is over Tyler walks over to me and hugs me. "That went well," he says.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad."

"Did you want to meet Jamie?" he asks as we look over at Jamie who is talking with a few reporters.

"I thought I wasn't allowed."

"You're going to be meeting him eventually anyway. It might as well be now."

"You act like once I meet him I'm going to just take all my clothes off and jump on him. I think the guy is cute but that's about it. I only have eyes for one Star and that's you."

He smiles. "That was so damn sweet, I think I might cry," he teases

"You shut up. Way to ruin the moment."

He takes his phone out. "Come on, let's take a selfie. I want to tweet it now that it's out there." I lean into him and he leans his head towards mine and we smile really wide and he snaps the picture. "I have the most supportive best friend a guy could ask for," he says out loud as he types it. "There, sent."

"Prepare for the replies."

"Hey, Jamie," Tyler calls out to Jamie who is across the room. Jamie looks over at him. "Come over here when you get the chance."

"You didn't have to yell across the room," I say as I shake my head.

"I got his attention, didn't I?" Jamie finishes up with who he was talking to and walks over to us. "Jamie, this is my best friend Amy. She thinks you're cute."

Jamie smiles. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too. Tyler always tries to embarrass me in front of good looking men."

"It's cute that he needs his best friend around," Jamie teases.

"I know. He's so needy. He always needs me to be with him."

"You guys are jerks," Tyler whines. Jamie and I laugh. He puts his arm around my back. He leans down and whispers in my ear, "you're going to pay for that later." He looks at Jamie. "You should come out to lunch with us."

"I am hungry," Jamie replies.

"I was thinking about going to Chipotle," Tyler says.

"Oh god, Chipotle sounds amazing," I chime in.

"I'll meet you guys over there," Jamie says as he takes his keys out of his pocket.

We walk out to the parking lot and get into Tyler's car and start heading over to Chipotle. "I have something to tell you," Tyler says.

"Oh no, that doesn't sound good," I reply.

"It's nothing bad. In a few days I'm going to be doing a signing in Boston to show the fans there how much I appreciate their support. I was hoping you'd go with me."

"That's really sweet of you, Tyler."

"I know we just got back but camp starts soon. I have to do this now and I really want to do it."

"I'm not complaining. You know I love Boston."

"Oh yeah, maybe I should leave you home," he teases.

"Like that would stop me from going."

"You have to behave yourself."

"I'm not making any promises."

He shakes his head. "You're so bad."

"You know I only do naughty things with you now."

"I don't like that you had to put now at the end of that sentence."

"Yeah well it's not like I was a virgin before we started sleeping together."

"Change of subject. Do you think people will show up or do you think they're mad at me?"

"Mad at you for changing? I don't think so. Maybe some might be, like some of the girls. Most of them are probably upset you got traded."

"It's not like I was cute or anything."

"I really wish you'd stop saying that. I don't know how many times I have to tell you how cute you were before. You were perfect so I don't want to hear anymore that you weren't cute."

"Ok, ok, ok. Don't get upset."

"You really do deserve to get smacked when you say things like that to me."

"We have two different opinions on it."

"Yeah I know. Honestly I don't want to hear yours, ok?"

"Wow, ok. Good thing we're here."

Tyler parks the car and we get out. Jamie is already there waiting for us inside. We get on the line and wait our turn to order. Once we order and get our food we pick up our trays and go sit down to eat. Tyler and Jamie talk with each other and I just observe. They only just met and yet they seem like they're old friends. It's kind of fascinating to watch.

I'm still a little upset at Tyler for the way the conversation went in the car on the way here. He knows the way I feel about him and the way I felt about the old him. Because of the way he thought of himself is the reason that old Tyler was taken away from me. He sits there and says he was ugly like it's not a big deal but it is because he wasn't. He was handsome and I miss the face I used to look at every day and he was just so quick to throw that version of him away.

"Why are you so quiet?" Jamie asks, breaking me out of my trance.

"She's mad at me," Tyler interjects before I can answer.

"Mad isn't really the word. I was just thinking. Got lost in my head. I'm better now."

"She misses the way I used to look and we agree to disagree on which is better," Tyler explains.

"Please, Tyler, let's not do this in front of Jamie," I reply.

"I'm just explaining why you're mad at me," Tyler says.

During the rest of the lunch I continue to sit in silence as Tyler and Jamie get to know each other better. I feel like I'm a third wheel on a date. I don't really care at this point, though, I'm not really in the mood to talk. Tyler knows how to push my buttons but it's like he doesn't even realize he does it sometimes. Then I am made to feel like the bad guy because I get upset. Like I have irrational responses to all of this. I really can't help that this is how I feel but he doesn't seem to care sometimes. The fact he brought Jamie into it after I tried to divert the question pisses me off more. None of this is anyone else's business but ours.

After we eat we say goodbye to Jamie and head out to the car. I don't speak to Tyler the entire time back to his house. He knows I'm upset. He hasn't said a word to me either. Maybe he's mad that I'm mad. Who knows? All I know is that there's silence for the whole 25 minutes back to the house. When we get inside I start walking right for the stairs to go upstairs. "Are you ever going to talk to me?" Tyler asks.

I stop in my tracks and turn around just as my foot hits the first step. "I can't believe you dragged Jamie into it."

"I'm sorry."

"Are you really? It's like you always want to start a fight with me. He didn't need to know that I was mad or why I was mad. That's between us."

"It was obvious you were mad."

"It's still none of his business. I don't want other people to know how hard this is on me. Especially not someone I just met."

"I don't know why you can't accept the fact I wasn't happy with the way I was before. Don't you want me to be happy with myself?

"I knew it was your idea!"

"No it wasn't but obviously I was happy to go along with it."

"You can't accept the fact that I loved you the way you were. Someone actually liked how you looked and you can't handle that. You won't let me deal with this my own way. I'm just supposed to accept it."

"You can't tell me I'm not better looking now. You just can't."

"It's not all about looks, Tyler, jesus. You were fine before. Yeah, maybe now you're more handsome but who gives a shit? This makes you a totally different person. A person you didn't need to become."

"I think the person I've become is just fine. I like being confident and happy with myself. Just wish my best friend was happy for me."

"I'm happy that you're happy." I start to make my way up the stairs.

"Come on don't go up there," he calls out to me.

I ignore him and continue making my way up the stairs. I walk into one of the guest rooms and slam the door. I flop down on the bed head first into a pillow and just lie there. I flip over on my back and take my phone out of my pocket to text AnnMarie. I miss her. I didn't have much time to see her while we were in Toronto. Now I wish I would have stayed behind like Candace wanted me to.

Amy : I don't think it's going to work out between me and Tyler.

AnnMarie : What? Why? You guys are great together.

Amy : we have the same fight just about every day. I can't do it anymore.

AnnMarie : Do you love him? That is the question here.

Amy : I do love him.

AnnMarie : Then I don't understand the problem. You guys will work through it.

Amy : sometimes I look at him and I literally want to rip his face off like it's a mask and see the way he used to look underneath.

AnnMarie : Unfortunately for you it's not a mask.

Amy : I know. It's sometimes really hard on me and he doesn't understand

AnnMarie : He has the right to be happy too though.

Amy : I guess I just don't understand why he wasn't happy before

AnnMarie: No you probably never will, because you didn't see anything wrong with him. His point of view is different.

Amy : Yeah and it's ruining our friendship

AnnMarie: You just have to ask yourself if all this is worth it. =(

Amy : the good days we have together are so good but then there are days like these where I just want to strangle him

AnnMarie : You can't be mad at him for liking himself the way he is.

Amy : are you taking his side?

AnnMarie : No, I can understand why you are upset. You loved the way he was. But I can see his side too. He is happier looking like this.

AnnMarie : And I have to say he is pretty hot. =P

Amy : well yeah, he's extremely hot, I'm not doubting that

Amy : I'm just worried the more I spend time with him, the more I'll resent him

AnnMarie : Then you better tell him sooner rather than later. It will break his heart.

Amy : there has to be something wrong with me that I can't just be happy loving him like this

AnnMarie : You have to find a way to accept it if you want to be with him.

Amy : all he had to do was not say he was ugly and everything would have been ok

AnnMarie : That's how he felt.

Amy : it started this whole thing then he told Jamie Benn about it and it just set me off

AnnMarie : Sleep it off, you'll get over it in the morning.

Amy : I suppose

I put my phone down on the nightstand and take a nap. By the time I wake up from my nap it's pretty late. I didn't even realize I was that tired. I'll probably stay in here for the rest of the night to cool off. I don't want to get into another argument. There is a knock at the door. How did he know I just woke up? Are there cameras in here? I put the blanket over my head. Maybe if he comes in here he'll think I'm still sleeping. I hear the door open. "Amy, are you awake?" he asks. I don't say anything. It is getting hot under this blanket. I did not think this through very well. He walks into the room and I feel him sit down on the bed. He puts his hand on my back. "Babe."

"Shhhh, sleeping," I say.

He laughs and puts his arms around me. He pulls the blanket off of my head and my hair is everywhere. "I love what you've done with your hair," he teases.

"Thanks. It's going to be the new fashion trend. Bed head meets electrical socket."

"I'm glad you're talking to me. I didn't mean to tell our business to Jamie. I love you. And i'm sorry I am so insensitive to your feelings sometimes. I know this has been hard on you."

"I didn't know you were unhappy with yourself. I wish I would have known. I would have told you how amazing you were. I think that's why this is so hard on me. I didn't see it. I should have seen it. You're my best friend and I had no idea how miserable you were with yourself. That must make me a terrible friend."

"You are a great friend, you know that. I didn't let anyone see how miserable I was."

"I do love you. I hope you know that. You're everything to me, you always have been."

I finally look up at him after pushing the hair out of my face. His eyes are glassy from tears welling up. "You're everything to me too. Do you forgive me?"

"I'll forgive you if you forgive me."

"Of course. So remember this the next time we have this fight, ok?"

I laugh. "If it weren't true I'd smack you."

"You can't smack this beautiful face."

"A little full of yourself don't you think, Ty?"

He leans down and kisses me. I pull him down so he lies down next to me. I rest my forehead against his. "I love you."

"I love you too." He wraps his arms around me and I nuzzle into his neck. We both drift off to sleep.


	9. Thank You, Boston

The plane ride to Boston was probably the worst experience of my life. Some kid kept kicking the back of my chair and screaming in my ear. The parents did nothing to stop him. I was so close to standing up and smothering the kid but Tyler kept me calm. Four hours of nonstop kicking could be classified as some sort of torture. I wanted to kiss the ground as soon as we landed.

After we land we take a cab to the hotel we are going to be staying in. It feels so good to be back in Boston. I've spent so much time here that it feels like it's my second home. Sometimes I feel like I'd rather live in Boston than Toronto. We drop our stuff off at the hotel and go out to eat. Once we're done eating we go back to the hotel and relax. I'm actually surprised we aren't going out drinking tonight but I'm glad that we're not. I guess we're growing up or something. Now we're those boring kind of people who stay in bed instead of going out and having a good time.

I feel like it's going to be bittersweet saying goodbye to all these Boston fans. They've been a big part of Tyler's life and I guess a part of mine as well. They have been so cool towards me even though I'm the one who kept him out partying most of those times. It's weird how involved in my life they've become. I always thought it was weird but I started to get used to it. Then Tyler got traded. Some Boston fans still tweet me from time to time just not as much as they used to. I'm sure as the season goes on it will be even less. The fans here gave him so much support and I think it's so cool of Tyler to come back here and show his appreciation towards them.

Tyler and I take a cab to Boston Logos, where the signing is going to be held. We get dropped off around back so we can go in through the back door to avoid walking past the crowds. There are so many people lined up already. It looks like we're going to be here for a while. Before we go inside I lean my back up against the wall of the building. "I just want to take this all in. It's going to be the last time I'm going to be here in who knows how long," I say.

"You act like you're never going to be allowed back just because I was traded. You can come here whenever you want."

"I don't know. It feels different already. When you played here it was like we owned the city, now I just feel like we're visitors."

"Wow. I didn't know it meant so much to you."

"We just had some really amazing times here."

He leans his hand on the wall above my head and leans in to kiss me. "We'll have amazing times in Dallas. It's not where you make the memories, it's who you make them with that counts."

"Shit, that was deep."

He smiles. "I can be deep sometimes. Come on, let's go inside and get this thing started."

We walk inside and Tyler meets with the manager they talk for a few minutes before we're taken to a table that is set up with markers on it and a bunch of bottles of water. Tyler sits down. Because of the size of the store they haven't let anyone inside yet. They'll be letting in a few at a time so it doesn't get too overcrowded. "Do you have everything you need?" I ask.

"You're not going to stay with me?"

"This is your thing. I don't want to get in the way."

"Just stay for a little bit at least."

I sit down in the chair next to him. "Ok. I'm here." I pick up a marker. "I'm ready to start signing."

"I'm sure some of these people would want your autograph. Sometimes I feel like they like you more than me."

"That's simply because I'm more awesome than you are."

"You wish." They open the doors and the fans start to trickle in. "Here we go." He smiles at the first fan that comes up to the table and signs their jersey. The signing has officially started.

The first wave of fans are mostly guys who are so excited to meet him. They compliment him on his transformation, especially his muscles and tattoos. Guys are so weird sometimes. I'm having a good time watching Tyler interact with all of the fans. This is such a unique thing for a player to do after being traded and it seems like everyone knows that and appreciates him coming back and doing this for them. I don't think people realize just how big of an impact Boston has had on him.

Once they send the next wave of fans in a couple with their two young daughters walk up to the table. The girls seem reluctant to come too close. "I'm sorry about them. They really are big fans of yours," the mother says, "it's just that they don't recognize you and they're upset."

"We liked the way you looked before," one of the girls says as she peaks out from behind her mother.

I look at Tyler and frown. The girls have tears in their eyes. "See, I'm not the only one," I say to him. I look at the girls. "You have my permission to hit him."

"Hey!" Tyler exclaims, "don't listen to her." They both giggle. Tyler stands up and walks around the table and squats down in front of the girls. "Please don't cry over me."

"You can still hit him if you want," I say.

"But he's my favorite," one of the girls says, sniffling, "I can't hit him."

Tyler stands back up and takes his seat. "I'll do it for you." I playfully smack his arm.

"I'm leaving you home next time," Tyler says as he rubs his arm. I laugh. "You're enjoying this too much."

"Please, they're here to see me. I didn't do anything to upset them," I reply.

He scrunches his nose. "You're just hilarious," he says sarcastically.

"You love me, just stop." I look over at the girls. "You should come take a picture with him."

"Go ahead, girls," their mom says as she puts her hands on their backs and pushes them towards the table. They come around the table and stand on either side of Tyler and he pulls them in close to him. Their mom takes a picture and they thank Tyler before leaving.

He continues to sign a few autographs and I start to get restless. "Let me stop distracting you. I'm going to go mingle."

"Yeah, go." He smiles wide.

I stand up and kiss the top of his head before heading outside to get some fresh air. There are so many fans lined up outside. I don't even know where the end of the line is. I can walk by most people without them knowing who I am but a few fans stop me to talk to me here and there. They usually recognize me from these pictures that got posted all over the internet of Tyler and I getting wasted. Some people do follow me on Twitter. Some just know me from what Tyler used to tweet about me. I'm not going to lie, it feels pretty cool to be recognized.

This group of girls come up to me while I'm talking to someone. They wait until I'm finished talking. "We just have a quick question."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Are you and Tyler together now?"

"Yeah, kinda. It's a little complicated."

"You guys are so good together. We've been rooting for you to get together."

"Wow, thanks."

"But how are you holding up with this whole plastic surgery thing? Are you taking it well?" somebody else chimes in. That's one thing I probably won't miss about Boston. Everyone is all up in your business and nobody is ashamed to let you know how they feel.

"I'm handling it the best I can," I say.

"That's a big no," someone replies.

"How do you guys feel about it?" I ask.

"I think it's a great improvement," one of them says.

"The kid was fine the way he was," someone else adds.

"He is so hot," one of the girls says. I look in her direction. "Sorry but he is."

"I'm still getting used to so many people thinking so," I say, "well I'm going to go talk with some more people. Thanks for being so patient and waiting in this line."

"We're going to miss him here in Boston."

"Be sure to let him know," I say before walking away.

I spend an hour or so walking up and down the line talking to as many people as I can. I can't sit in one spot for too long without needing to get up so I'm glad there isn't a shortage of out going people in this line. It still doesn't seem like the line is ever going to end. Just when I think the end is near I take a look at the end of the line and it goes back to wrapping around the building. I'm starting to get hungry so I pick up something to eat for myself and Tyler. I'm sure he's hungry too. Before I get in the door these guys stop me. They look to be around my age, maybe a year or two older.

"Hey, are you and Tyler going out drinking tonight?" one of them asks.

"Uhh, I don't know," I reply, "we haven't made plans but I don't know you so I probably wouldn't tell you if we were."

"You should come out and get wasted with us."

"Sorry but I don't think that's going to happen. I have to get inside now. The food is getting cold."

I walk inside and place Tyler's food on the table next to him so it's not in the way of where he is signing. "Where have you been?" he asks, "you were gone for like 2 hours."

"I was talking with my fans. I should have held my own signing."

He laughs. "Yeah, they love you."

"I know."

"Do you want to sign some autographs? My hand hurts." He stretches his fingers out by opening and closing his fist.

"Yea sure but I'll only sign jerseys with my name on the back." He shakes his head. "There were these creepy guys outside that were trying to get me to go out with them and get drunk."

"Am I going to have to kick some ass?"

"Jealous?"

"That settles it. We aren't going out tonight."

"That's fine with me. It gives me more time with you before you go back home to your new best friend Jamie."

"You know I loooooove you."

"I love you too. When is this thing over anyway?"

"When there's no one left."

"Oh, so never."

"Just sit down."

I sit down in the chair next to him and eat my food while he continues to sign autographs and take pictures. It's a great thing he's doing for his fans but I'm starting to get impatient. We've been here for hours already and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. I know how much he hates time limits on signings, though. Not only does it not give him enough time to interact with the fans the way he wants to but it guarantees someone will leave upset. That's why when he planned this one he made sure that there would be no time limit so everyone leaves happy.

He keeps elbowing me to bother me but I refuse to react because that's what he's looking for. It takes a few minutes but I finally give in and start laughing. He's being extra adorable with this cheesey smile on his face while he does it. He stops doing it when this girl in a very low cut top comes up to the table. "You look sooo good," she says as she leans in very close to take a picture with him. I'm pretty sure she put her cheek up against his and she puts her arm around his back. My urge to slap her is strong but I fight it and just take a deep breath.

After she leaves I say, "I was about to slap a hoe."

"Calm down. You know you're the only one I love."

"Next time someone touches you this thing is over."

"Oh my god, relax."

"Oh right I'm the crazy one for not wanting puck bunnies having their hands all over you."

"Babe," he says as he turns to me. He sighs. "Come on, don't be jealous."

"Ok I won't. I'll just sit here and be happy." I smile the fakest smile I can muster up.

He puts his arm around me and kisses the side of my head. I take my phone out and take a selfie. I put on the most miserable face I can come up with and snap the picture. I laugh when I review it because Tyler is behind me making a goofy face. I send the picture to AnnMarie.

Amy : here I am at the never ending signing

Amy : I don't think we're ever leaving Boston

AnnMarie : why are you in Boston?

Amy : because Tyler is the nicest guy ever

AnnMarie : how can you be mad at him being the nicest guy ever?

Amy : I'm not mad, just tired. We've been here for 4 hours

AnnMarie : yeah that is a long time

Amy : It's like the whole city of Boston decided to show up to this thing

AnnMarie : they love him there, that's why.

Tyler reaches over and snatches my phone out of my hand and puts it in his pocket. "Stop being rude."

"You looking to lose that hand, Seguin?"

"You're all talk."

"Wait til we get back to the hotel. We'll see who's all talk." He smiles and hands my phone back to me.

Another hour goes by and the last person walks up to the table. Tyler takes his time singing the autograph and talking to the fan. I know he's doing it to annoy me. He knows I want to get out of here. He's practically asking this guy his whole life story. I just glare at him until he's done. The guy walks out of the store and I burst out of my chair and throw my arms in the air. "YES! Freedom!" I shout.

Tyler stands up and hugs me and I squeeze him tightly. He kisses my forehead. "Let's get going."

We start walking towards the door when a guy walks in with his young son, maybe about 4 years old. "Oh no, we missed it?"

"Of course not, you're the last one," Tyler says. The little boy has Tyler's jersey on. It's as big as him. It's so cute. Tyler squats down. "What's your name?"

"Reece," the little boy answers.

"Can I get a high five, Reece?" Tyler asks as he puts his hand up. Reece smacks Tyler's hand as hard as he can. Tyler shakes it, pretending to be hurt. "Ouch, you gotta be careful." Reece giggles.

"Let him sign your jersey, Reece," his father says. Reece turns around and Tyler signs his jersey. "Can he get a picture with you?"

"Of course."

Tyler picks Reece up and they take a picture. Tyler puts him back down . They thank Tyler for everything and leave. Tyler puts his arm around me and we walk outside. The Salty Dog is within walking distance and I'm still hungry and Tyler barely touched his food so we decide to walk to there.

"You're amazing, you know that?" I say as we walk.

"Oh yeah? You're pretty amazing yourself putting up with me." He hugs me.

"I am aren't I?"

"Yup."

We continue walking until we get to the Salty Dog. Luckily there's not many people here because the place is so small. If there was a long wait I don't think I'd have the patience for it. We get seated right away and order our food. We have a nice, quiet dinner. Both of us are pretty wiped out from today. I tell Tyler about all of the different people I was able to talk to and he tells me about how grateful the fans were that he did this for them. It's a little sad that we're going to have to leave this but I have a feeling that great things are waiting for Tyler in Dallas and he's going to be just fine.

After we eat we take a cab back to the hotel and head up to our room. I immediately plop down on the bed and lie down on my back. Tyler sits down on the bed next to me. He leans down and kisses me. I reach up and put my hand on the back of his head and pull him down. He rests his chest on mine and runs his fingers through my hair as he continues to kiss me. He pulls away and I sigh. "We should get to bed. I have plans with Brad tomorrow," he says as he sits up.

I sit up and start to undress to get ready for bed. "You're hanging out with Marchy? I wanna hang out with Marchy."

"No not that Brad."

"Oh. Brad Brad. I didn't know he was in town."

"Yeah I told him I'd be here so he flew in." He kicks off his shoes and takes his pants off.

"So what am I supposed to do when you're out with Brad?"

"You should call Krissy and see if she's free."

"Yeah I could do that." I take my shirt off and throw it across the room onto my bag.

We finish getting ready for bed and lie down. I turn off the lamp next to the bed. We fall asleep.


	10. So Many Shots

In the morning I wake up to something hitting me in the face. I open my eyes, grab it, and throw it on the floor. It's Tyler's towel. I look up at him and he has a wide smile on his face and I glare at him. "Good morning," he says chipperly.

"Why?" is all I can say.

"I love you," he says as he climbs on the bed towards me.

"I was sleeping." He leans in to kiss me and I put my hand up to stop him. "No kisses." He keeps making kissy faces and sounds at me while I hold him back.

He grabs my wrist and moves my hand and kisses me. "Come on, get ready."

"I'm not hanging out with you guys today. I want to sleep," I whine.

"You can sleep when we get back home. I thought you love Boston. You can't sleep the whole day away."

"I wasn't gonna sleep the whole day away." I grab my phone and look at the time. "It's 9:30, it's too early."

"You're so lazy. Get in the shower before I put you in the shower."

"But why?" I complain.

"Can't I take my favorite person in the world out to breakfast before I don't see her for the rest of the day?"

I sit up. "The rest of the day? What are you guys doing?"

"Hanging out."

"All day?" I question.

"Yeah. I haven't seen him in a while and I'm going to hang out with him. Is that ok?"

"Yeah if it gets you out of my hair for a day," I tease.

"Fine if you're going to be like that I'll just leave now," he pouts.

"Oh stop. Come over here." He walks over and sits down on the bed. I hug him. "I'll go take a shower. You're so lucky you're kinda cute." I get out of bed. He grabs my hand and pulls me down on his lap. "Whatcha doing? I thought you wanted me to shower."

"I do but you're just so cute when you're grumpy." He wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek. "Now go shower." He pushes me off his lap.

I walk into the bathroom and take a shower. After I get out of the shower I dry my hair and get dressed. Tyler and I go out to breakfast. While we wait for our food I take out my phone and text Krissy to see if she's free or if I'm going to be alone all day today.

Amy : I'm in town. Please tell me you're free

Krissy : oh my god, where are you?

Amy : getting breakfast with Tyler but I'm free after that. He's hanging out with Brad.

Krissy : where do you want to meet?

Amy : come get me at the Nine Zero Hotel

Krissy : oh shit, Tyler doesn't mess around

Amy : I can't wait to see you

Krissy : I know. I thought when he got traded I'd never see you again

Amy : we have to go out tonight

Krissy : Hell yeah, we'll go to that bar that gives us the free drinks. That bartender still works there

Amy : have you fucked him yet?

Krissy : no

Amy : dude probably has blue balls from fantasizing about you. Throw him a lay already. It's not like he's ugly

Krissy : Not tonight. Tonight is girl's night.

Amy : you have to promise me you'll fuck that guy soon.

Krissy : I will. what about you and Tyler, you hit that yet?

Amy : oh yeah. I'll tell you all about it when I see you

Krissy : Text me when you're ready. Getting in the shower now

"What you are smiling at over there?" Tyler asks.

"Just texting Krissy," I reply.

"Am I going to regret suggesting you two hang out?"

"Probably. You know how we get."

"Behave."

"I'm perfectly capable of behaving."

"I don't think you know what that word means because you do not know how to behave."

"So where are you and Brad going?"

"The usual spots."

"Speaking of behaving."

"I always behave. I'm better than you. You're the bad influence."

"Just because my dad thinks I'm a bad influence doesn't make it true."

"We'll see who parties harder at the end of the night."

"I guess we will."

We finish up our breakfast and head back to the hotel. Brad is in the lobby when we walk in. Tyler walks right over to him and they hug. "Hey man," Tyler says.

"Your face is so different," Brad says.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah you look great."

I sigh. I will be happy when everyone is used to Tyler looking different and nobody has to bring it up anymore. I'm fine with it until someone brings it up then it's like a knife gets stabbed through my chest all over again. Like a fresh wound that keeps getting opened. Then they talk about how much better he looks now than before and it pisses me off. I loved the way he looked before. It's sad that he didn't It's sad that it seems like I'm the only one that prefers him that way.

"Thanks. I think so too." He looks over at me and smirks. I flip him off.

"Hey, Amy," Brad says as he hugs me.

"Hey, Brad, you can keep him if you want. I'm over it."

"Oh stop. You love me," Tyler says.

"I don't know why. The reason escapes me at this moment," I reply.

"Don't worry. I'll take good care of him," Brad says.

"Lose him. I don't care," I bitterly say.

"I love you too," Tyler says then kisses me.

"Have fun," I say as they walk away.

He stops and turns around. "Be careful tonight."

"We'll be fine. Now go so I can watch you walk away." He starts walking and exaggerates his walk to shake his butt from side to side. "Nice ass, Seguin!" I yell across the lobby.

"You're so embarrassing!" he yells back.

I sit down on one of the chairs in the lobby and text Krissy that I'm here.

Amy : at the hotel. Boys are gone

Krissy : damn I wanted to see new Tyler up close

Amy : we don't talk about that

Krissy : we will when I get there

Amy : fine

Krissy : leaving now. bringing a sexy as fuck dress

Amy : don't tell Tyler I brought the slutty dress

Krissy : oh shit. it's on. see you in a few

Krissy walks into the lobby and runs over to me. "Hey!" she exclaims as she throws her arms around me and squeezes me. I squeeze her back.

"I missed you so much!" I say, "you have to move to Dallas."

"Yeah right. I'm never leaving Boston."

"Come on. Let's go up to the room."

Once we get up to the room we sit down on the bed. She looks around the room. "This room is amazing. I should just move in."

"I'm sure Tyler won't mind you staying."

"You guys slept in the same bed?"

"We do that now."

"You know you're going to have to explain to me what's going on between you two, right?"

"It's hard to explain. I love him. He loves me. We have sex. We just haven't put a label on anything. It's complicated."

"He's looking pretty good lately."

"Yeah."

"What's the matter?"

"You know how I felt about him before this. I just miss him that way. It's been hard on me."

"You need to get over it. He's fucking hot. You get to sleep with that. What's the problem?"

"My brain is the problem. It gets in the way."

"You know what will help? Shots. Lots and lots of shots."

"That sounds fantastic. Too bad we can't go drinking at 11am."

"We could but we should save it for tonight."

We hang out in the room catching up. I haven't seen her since March. So much has gone on since then. I tell her how I went to surprise Tyler and he looked all different and I locked myself in the room and wanted to die and was so upset. She's been going to school and working part time. We put a movie on and watch that while we wait to be able to go out. After the movie we change into our dresses and start getting ready.

We take a cab to the bar. They let us right in because they know us. We head straight over to the bar and Krissy leans over the bar and gives Jeremy the bartender a kiss on the cheek. He smiles and pours us each a drink. We clink our glasses together and drink our drink. "Shots, Jeremy," Krissy says. He puts 3 shot glasses down on the bar and pours the shots and takes a shot with us. The rest of the night Jeremy keeps our glasses full. The only reason we leave the side of the bar is to dance and we only dance with each other even though guys try to step in. We continue to drink all night while they flirt. By the time we leave the bar I am so drunk. I am so drunk I can't walk straight. Everything is hilarious. The world will not stop spinning. I can't feel my feet. That's the sign of a great night out.

When the bar closes I convince Krissy to stay with Jeremy so she can go home with him. Jeremy gets me into a cab and I'm on my way back to the hotel. I stumble through the lobby over to the elevators and it takes me a few times but I finally press the button to go up. The doors open on my floor and I hold onto the wall as I walk down the hallway to our room. I dig around in my purse for the room key and try to stick it in the slot but I'm having trouble focusing. I try just opening the door but that doesn't work. Out of nowhere the door opens and I fall into the room. Tyler catches me before I hit the floor and I start cracking up. He helps me back up onto my feet.

"How much did you drink tonight?" he asks as he helps me over to the bed. "And why are you wearing that?"

"I only had like a few," I slur as I stumble over to the bed and sit down.

"A few dozen maybe," he replies.

"How come you're not drunk?" I say as I poke him in the chest.

"I only had a few beers and came back here."

"Oh. Well, we had shots. Sooooooo many shots."

"I can tell."

"What did you do all day?" I ask, slurring every word.

"We'll talk when you're sober."

"So secretive."

"Please just take that dress off and lie down."

"Trying to get me naked?"

"I don't need to try to get you naked. I just hate that dress."

"It's sexy and you know it just like you. You're sexy."

He smiles. "Do you need me to help you?"

"Yeah, big boy. Help me out of this dress."

He laughs. "I forgot what you're like when you're drunk."

"Shut up and kiss me." I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him towards me. I kiss him and he puts his hands on my back. I run my tongue along his bottom lip before sticking my tongue in his mouth. He unzips the back of my dress and pulls it down. It drops to the floor. "Now we're talking."

"We're not having sex tonight."

"Why not? I like sex."

"You're drunk."

"Best drunk sex you'll ever have."

"Not tonight."

"But you look so hot." I put my hand on his chest and run it down his body, feeling every single muscle. "Yum."

"Are you going to sleep like that or are you going to put something on?"

"Naked please." I grab the bottom of his shorts and pull them down. They fall to his ankles.

"I can't believe you." He bends down and picks his shorts off of the floor and puts them back on. "Go to bed. It's late."

"I don't want to go to bed," I whine.

He gets in the bed and lies down. "You don't want to lie down with me?"

"Fine," I huff. He stretches his arm out and I snuggle up next to him.

"Why did you drink so much tonight?"

"I always drink too much."

"Sleep it off. We'll talk in the morning."

I wake up with my head pounding. I look next to me and Tyler is still sleeping. I need something to drink. I'm dehydrated. I walk over to the mini fridge and grab a bottle of water. I walk back over to the bed and sit up in my spot and drink my water. I put the bottle down on the nightstand and lie back down. Maybe I can get some more sleep. Tyler rolls over on his side and looks at me. "I didn't know it was possible to be woken up by someone drinking water," he says.

"Are you giving me shit for drinking water?"

"How's your head?"

"It feels like there's a thunderstorm going on in there. Maybe an earthquake."

"That's what you get."

"You're so supportive. Are you hung over?"

"No. I didn't drink. Remember?"

"Not really. I honestly don't know how I got back here."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I remember the bar and shots and more shots and then waking up feeling like my mouth was as dry as a dessert."

"You tried to fuck me last night."

"Tried? That doesn't sound like me. I succeed." I look down at myself. I'm not wearing anything but panties. "I'm not wearing clothes."

"You wanted to be naked."

"I can't believe you turned me down for sex."

"You were so drunk. I wasn't going to do that."

"What did you and Brad do yesterday?"

"We hung out for a little bit, got some tattoos, went out for some drinks, came back to the hotel and waited for you all night, had to deal with your drunken ass, and slept."

"Hold on. Did you say tattoos?"

"Maybe. It depends if you're going to be mad at me or not."

"I guess that depends on where you got it."

"What's off limits?"

"Tyler you better show me where you got this fucking tattoo." I start grabbing at his shirt.

He grabs my wrists and holds them in place. "Stop. What's off limits?"

"You better just show me right now." He kisses me. "If it's on your chest, Tyler, so help me I'm going to kill you."

"No it's not there."

"Then it better not be on your fucking stomach."

"Ok so you're probably not going to be mad at me then."

"Probably?" I ask in a panic.

"Relax, it's on my collarbone."

"What could you even get on your collarbone?"

"It's just something between me and Brad."

"Are you ever going to show me or am I supposed to just guess what this thing looks like?" He takes his shirt off. "Aww it's cute. I like it. It works there."

"Thanks."

"I thought it was going to be this big thing that I was going to get mad about and we'd have this argument and I'd be all pissed and then I'd wanna go back to Toronto and you'd be like no stay so I stay but I'm mad and don't wanna talk to you and it would be a whole big thing."

"Thank god you like it. I don't want to go through that again."

I rub my hands up and down his arms. I pull him towards me and kiss him. "We should cuddle."

"I'd like that a lot."

He lies back down on his back and I rest my head on his chest. He puts his arm around me and rubs my back. It doesn't take me long to fall back asleep.

Tyler wakes me up when it's time to start getting ready to go to the airport. We get our things together and Tyler calls a taxi to take us to the airport. We go down to the lobby and wait for them to get here. Once the taxi pulls up we go outside and get in the back. I rest my head on Tyler's shoulder on the way to the airport. He kisses my temple and puts his hand on my thigh. This was a good trip. We didn't have any fights or arguments. He got to thank his fans and say goodbye to them and I got to see a really close friend that I won't be seeing as often as I'm used to. It's sad that we're going to be leaving Boston, a city that I know both of us really love, but I'm looking forward to seeing what Dallas brings us.


	11. ESPN Photo Shoot

We aren't back in Dallas that long before Tyler has to do his ESPN Body Issue photo shoot. He keeps begging me to go with him but I refuse. I don't want to be apart of it. He got the genius idea to get a brazilian wax. I told him that it's not a good idea but he wants to look good. He was trying to get me to come to that too and I decided to stay back at his house instead. I'm out in the backyard laying out by the pool when I get a text.

Tyler : this hurts like hell

Amy : no one told you to do it, genius

Tyler : well I have to be presentable

Amy : ugh you are something

I send AnnMarie a text

Amy : I can't believe he's going through with this brazilian wax thing

AnnMarie : did you go with him?

Amy : no, I'm sunbathing

AnnMarie : so supportive

Amy : shush, you

AnnMarie : are you going to the shoot?

Amy : no, staying here.

AnnMarie : you're not going to go see him be all naked?

Amy : I can see him naked whenever I want

I start getting more texts from Tyler.

Tyler : I'm almost done

Amy : I'm out in the yard

Tyler : should be leaving soon

Amy : ok

I put my phone down on the ground and go back to sunbathing. After 15 minutes I flip over onto my stomach. I usually nude sunbathe at home and people can see me there. They can't see me here so I figured why not? I love the feeling of the sun's rays on my bare skin. I make sure to be extra generous with the sunscreen so I don't damage my skin. I hear the sliding glass door open and I look back behind me to see Tyler's feet walking towards me. "Are you seriously naked in my backyard?" he asks as he stands over me.

"You know I like to sunbathe nude."

"I just wasn't expecting to come out here and seeing your bare ass." He smacks it.

"Speaking of bare ass. How's your bare ass feeling?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh come on, you have to show me." I sit up and stand up. I grab at his shorts and he dodges me. "I wanna see the smoothness." I start trying to grab at him.

"Get outta here," he says as he smacks my hand.

"I'm getting those shorts off." I start running towards him and he turns around to run away from me. He circles the pool and I follow after him. He's a lot faster than me. "Just show me!" I call out after him. There's no way I'm catching up to him.

He stops and turns around and starts laughing. "Seeing you running around naked is adorable."

"You're going to be showing the whole world your naked ass and you won't even show me."

"Let's go inside."

I pick up my clothes up off the ground along with my phone and we walk inside. He pulls his shorts and boxer briefs down to reveal the wax job. "Is it weird that I really like it?"

"Never happening again," he pouts.

I can't stop staring. "I really like it."

"Do you wanna touch it?"

"You wish."

He pulls his pants back up. "Get some clothes on."

"No. I like being naked."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me tomorrow?"

"Yes I'm sure. I don't really want to be around other people looking at you naked."

"It's going to be professional."

"I don't care."

"So stubborn."

"Yup that's me."

"Don't you want to see all of this naked tomorrow."

"I don't need to go to some photo shoot to see you naked."

"With that attitude you'll never see me naked."

"Please. Don't make me laugh."

"You're right. I wouldn't do that to you."

"How do you even fit that big head through the door? If it gets any bigger you're going to have to buy a bigger house."

"Shut up."

"Good comeback, Ty," I tease.

"I'm not full of myself," he huffs.

"I'd like to be full of yourself."

"You're so bad."

"You owe me."

"I do?"

"Yeah you do. I wanted sex in Toronto and you didn't get the hint. I wanted sex in Boston and you turned me down."

"You were drunk off your ass in Boston."

"I still would have rocked your world."

"So do you want sex or something?"

"If you have to ask..."

He pushes me down onto the couch and gets on top of me. I grab the bottom of his shirt and pull it up over his head and throw it onto the floor. I grab onto his back as he kisses my neck. I grab onto his shorts and pull them down. He pulls his boxer briefs down and I grab onto his shaft and stroke him a few times. I cradle his balls in my hand. "So smooth. I love it."

"You're so weird."

"That's not going to get me in the mood."

"You're already in the mood."

I tug a few times on his already hardening cock. "You too, eh?" He smiles and kisses me. He runs his hands down the sides of my body and grabs onto my hips and pulls me down onto the couch and climbs on top of me. He slips his tongue into my mouth as he lowers himself closer to me. He teases my opening with the head of his penis. "God damn it, Tyler, don't do this to me."

"Patience, my dear." He kisses my neck, down my collarbone, and wraps his lips around my nipple. He circles his tongue around it and I grab onto the back of his head and run my fingers through his hair.

"Come on, just fuck me already," I beg.

He kisses back up my chest, to my neck, around my ear, and to my lips. He slowly inserts himself inside of me. I moan in his ear as he thrusts into me I rub my hands down his back as he goes harder and faster. He holds onto the back of the couch for leverage to go deeper. It doesn't take me long to cum. I've been wanting sex from him and the anticipation was killing me. I grab onto his ass and pull him towards me. With a few more thrusts he finishes. He kisses me before stepping back and picking his boxer briefs off the floor and putting them back on.

"You're going to schedule another waxing appointment, right?" I ask.

"That's not happening again."

"But I love it."

"You love me anyway."

"No more sex. You're cut off."

"It's not like the old Tyler had that done."

"Shut up."

He leans down and kisses me. "It's good to know that even when you're mad at me you still want me."

"I love sex."

"You love me."

"Yeah I do."

"Let's go upstairs to cuddle."

"Ok."

We leave our clothes strewn about the living room and go upstairs to cuddle. Our cuddle turns into a nap that turns into sleeping for the rest of the night.

In the morning I'm awoken by Tyler gently shaking me. "Amy, I'm going to be leaving soon. Are you sure you don't want to come with me? Last chance."

"No," I mumble, "sleepy."

He kisses my forehead. "Ok. I'll see you later."

"Bye, babe." I try falling back asleep but I can't. I lie awake in bed for a few hours before finally giving up. I guess I'm up now.

I walk downstairs and clean up the clothes from the floor that we left yesterday. I grab my bathing suit and put it on. I plan on being out by the pool all day today while he's at the shoot. It's such a nice day out. I can't wait to go swimming. The pool water is going to feel so nice on my skin which is a tad burnt from laying out yesterday. I lay my towel out on a lounge chair and put my phone down along with my sunglasses. Before I get in I hear my phone go off.

Tyler : (Picture of chest and abs) wish you were here

Amy : tease

Tyler : when I get home you can have all of this

Amy : come home now

Tyler : I can't. I didn't do the shoot yet

Amy : yeah, exactly, come home now

Tyler : babe, I can't. I'll see you later

Amy : :(

Tyler : don't be upset. I love you

Amy : See you later, Ty. The pool is calling my name

I hold my phone out and take a picture of myself in my bikini.

Amy : (bikini selfie) this is what you're missing

Tyler : who's the tease now?

Amy : just returning the favor

I put the phone down on the lounge chair and jump into the pool. I swim around for a while before getting out of the pool and drying off. I'm still feeling pretty tired from getting woken up early. Maybe I can get a nap in before Tyler gets home. My phone goes off as I'm walking through the house.

Tyler : I have a friend that's going to be in a picture with me

Amy : What? I dont think so

Tyler : (selfie with duckie) isn't it cute?

Amy : yeah, cute

I get to Tyler's room and take a shower before putting some shorts and a shirt on and getting into bed. It feels so good to be in bed and closing my eyes. It doesn't take me long to fall asleep.

Out of nowhere I feel the blankets getting ripped off of me and my shorts soon follow. I open my eyes to see Tyler hovering over me. "What the hell?" I sleepily say as I start grabbing for the blanket to cover myself back up.

"Wake up."

"Go away. Sleeping." I put my hand on his chest and push him.

"Nope, don't think so."

"Yes." I grab the blanket and pull it back over my body.

"Oh come on, do I have to find someone else to mess around with?"

"Don't you fucking dare."

"Come on, pleaaaasee," he begs. He pulls the blanket off of me and throws it onto the floor. He grabs my shirt and pulls it over my head. "I want you," he whispers into my ear.

"Where is this coming from?"

He takes his shirt off, followed by his pants and boxer briefs. "Does it matter?" He spreads my legs apart with his knees and kisses my neck.

"No not really," I say through deep breaths. He knows just what to do to turn me on.

He kisses down my neck to my chest and stops at my nipple. He flicks his tongue at it a few times before continuing his journey downward. He kisses my stomach and takes some time to tease my belly button. I grab the back of his head and run my fingers through his hair as I softly moan. He grabs onto my waist as he makes his way a bit lower. He stops and looks up at me and smirks. He slowly runs his tongue along my opening and I grab onto the hair on the back of his head as I moan louder. He takes his time with his tongue around my clit. Just before I orgasm he props himself and thrusts hard into me. I scream out as I cum. "Yeah, baby, cum for me," he says as he thrusts hard into me.

"Don't stop, Tyler, don't stop," I say as I grab onto his back. He leans down and kisses me. I grab his tongue with my lips and suck on it. I rub my hands on his chest and down to his abs. I wrap my arms around his back and he nibbles on my neck. He rails into me and bites down on my neck hard as he cums and I cum along with him. He rolls off of me and lies down next to me. "Wow, Tyler."

"I've been wanting to fuck you all day."

I laugh and shake my head. "So romantic." He puts his hand on my stomach and kisses me. "If I knew you were going to come home with that energy I wouldn't have been so against the shoot."

"I knew you would like getting woken up that way."

"It's the best way to wake up. Thank you."

He puts his arm around me and I rest my head on his chest. I trace my finger around his belly button as he tells me about the photo shoot. I still don't like the idea of the whole world being able to see Tyler naked but at least I'm the only one he wants to be naked with. I feel like I overreacted about the whole thing. It sounds like he had a good time and it wasn't the end of the world after all.


	12. Acceptance

Ever since we got back from Boston, Tyler and Jamie have been hanging out almost every day. It's actually kind of cute how well they've been getting along. It's like they've been life long friends. Jamie is always over. I almost feel like I'm being replaced as the best friend. When they get together I just sit back and watch. They're cute and funny and entertaining. Tyler and Jamie are always either working out or training, getting ready for the season to start. Camp officially starts next week which means the season is going to be starting soon.

Jamie is over for dinner for the third time this week. They've been out for most of the afternoon and I thought I would surprise Tyler by trying to make his famous salmon. I really hope I did a good job. I've been a little scared to actually try it. Tyler is the one who usually makes this. The guys are outside in the backyard in the pool. Dinner's almost ready. I almost feel like I'm cooking for my children and not my best friend and his friend. Right now I'm watching them splash each other from the kitchen window. I shake my head at them and chuckle to myself. I walk over to the sliding glass door and open it. "Come get ready for dinner, kids!" I yell out to them.

Tyler and Jamie get out of the pool, grab their towels, and dry off before coming inside. Tyler goes to his room and Jamie goes into a bathroom to change. I finish up with dinner and get the food onto plates. I get the table set before the guys finish getting changed. I sit down and wait for the guys to join me at the table. We eat dinner and it actually didn't turn out that bad. Tyler's tastes better but at least I didn't completely ruin it. After we eat Jamie goes home and Tyler and I turn in early for bed.

"Thanks for dinner, it was really good," Tyler says while we get changed for bed.

"Yours is still better."

"I don't know. You made the rice better than I ever have."

"Maybe next time you make the salmon and I make the rice," I say as I get into bed.

Tyler gets into bed next to me and comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me pulling me close. "So there's going to be a next time?"

"Why wouldn't there be?" I ask.

"The summer's almost over."

"Oh, right. I forgot."

"You don't have to go, you know. You should stay with me."

"You're not sick of me by now?" I joke.

"Not entirely," he teases.

"Hey!"

He laughs and kisses my cheek. "So what do you say? Will you stay a little longer?"

"I could stay for October just like I used to do in Boston."

"That would be great. Like old times."

"Yeah. Maybe the Dallas fans will start stalking me on Twitter too. Then I'd really feel at home."

He laughs. "Do you think your dad is going to be mad you're staying another month?"

"Like I care. They went to Italy without me."

"I guess they're used to you living with me for most of the season anyway."

"I'm sure they'd want me to stay with you all season. They don't like me living alone. Our house is safe though."

"Don't give me ideas. I won't let you go."

"I would not be able to handle you for 7 months. I need my space, you know."

"So mean," he pouts. "So you'll definitely stay with me?"

"For October, yeah."

"I remember when you first got here, I thought you were going to leave the next day and now it's been like 3 months." He laughs.

"I almost left that first day when I went to get my bag. I was so close to just driving back to the airport."

"You would have left me?"

"Obviously not. I went back in, didn't I?"

"Yeah you did, not that you talked to me or anything."

"Well at least I didn't leave."

"I'm glad that you didn't. I love having you here."

"Yeah. I am pretty awesome."

"Not quite the answer I was hoping for, but yeah."

"Well of course I love being here with you." He pulls me in closer to him as he rests his head on my shoulder. I reach over and turn off the light. "Goodnight, Ty." He doesn't answer. He must have fallen asleep already. I'm not too far behind him and fall asleep as well.

Tyler has been so busy getting ready for first preseason game that I haven't seen him much. I'm used to him being more and more busy the closer it comes to the season starting so this is nothing new. In Boston I would always be with him for the last month of the summer and the first month of the season. He seems a lot more determined and focused this year. He thinks he has something to prove and he sure as hell is going to do something about it. That's just the kind of guy that he is.

The ESPN Body Issue comes out today, it's the day that I've been dreading since he first said he was going to be posing naked. I'm not ready for the world to see so much of him. I want to support him. He's my best friend. That is why I am sitting in the parking lot at Barnes and Noble waiting for the store to open. I want to be the first one to buy it. I know there isn't going to be a group of people waiting to bust the door down to buy the ESPN Body Issue but I still want to be the first. Tyler has already left for camp. He doesn't even know I left the house. He thinks I'm still in bed sleeping. He knows how much I hate the whole idea of the body issue so it'll be a surprise to him when he finds out I went out and bought it.

After the doors open I get out of my car and walk directly to the magazine racks. I search for the sports section and spot it almost immediately. I feel just a little embarrassed that I'm buying a magazine with naked athletes in it. I don't know why. Nothing usually embarrasses me. It's not like I'm buying porn. This is art, so he keeps telling me. I bring the magazine up to the cashier and pay. I almost feel like I have to make an excuse as to why I'm buying it. Like I should be saying 'I usually wouldn't buy something like this but my best friend is in it.' The cashier doesn't even look at it as he scans it. He shoves the magazine into a bag and hands it to me. I pay for it and walk back out to my car.

Before I turn the car on and head back to Tyler's I decide to take a look at the magazine. I just can't resist. I take it out of the bag and start flipping through the pages until I find Tyler. He is sitting on a Zamboni, one leg up, one hand on the steering wheel, a smile on his face, and a toque on his head. You can see practically all of him but I don't even care that everyone sees. He's worked so hard to get this body. He's proud of this body. He's confident in this body. He's happy in this body. I can't stop staring at the smile on his face. I can't help but smile back at it. That's my Tyler in that magazine. I couldn't be prouder of him.

When I get back to Tyler's I sit down on the couch with my laptop on my lap and my feet up on the ottoman. I'm sure the Boston fans are going insane about the magazine coming out. They love to tweet me any time anything comes out in the news about him and this is a big one. I open Twitter and go right to my mentions. I have an overwhelming amount of people tweeting me. It's almost as crazy as when he was traded. I'm trying to read all of them but they're coming in so fast. The overall consensus is that they love the picture. They're also saying there's more pictures of him online. I had no idea.

I don't have to do much searching to find the pictures. So many people are tweeting me links and pictures. They want to know what I think. I'm not going to talk about that just yet. I go to the website where there is a video about his shoot. The confidence in himself that he found through these changes makes me realize how lucky I am. He never would have given us a chance. He didn't even know that this is what he wanted. Even if he did he wouldn't have done anything about it. Being able to be in love with him and have him love me back is so worth it.

After watching the video a few times I look through the pictures his fans have been sending me. I can finally put the images to the stories he's been telling me about the shoot. I had different images in my head than what it actually turned out to be. I see him naked all of the time but these pictures make me see him differently. It's not in a bad way. I didn't think it was possible but they make me even more in love with him.

The door opens and I look over the back of the couch. Tyler smiles and starts walking towards me. "Whatcha doing?" he asks as he leans over the back of the couch. He kisses me on the cheek and looks at my screen. "What are you looking at?" I try to close the laptop before he can see but he grabs it out of my hands. He walks around the couch and sits down next to me with the laptop on his lap. "So what do you think? Are you wishing it was the old me?" He pouts his lower lip out.

"No. It just hit me that it doesn't matter."

"What?" he asks as he cocks his head to the side, confused.

"I realized today that I'm so in love with you. No wait, that's not the part I realized today. I knew since we first met that I was in love with you. What I realized today is that I love you this way, that way, doesn't matter. It's all you and I'm happy with you any way you are. There is no new or old you, I just love you, Tyler. I love you more than words could possibly describe."

He puts the laptop down on the coffee table. "Well it's about time." I burst out laughing. He smiles wide and laughs along with me. He hugs me and I hug him back. I breathe a deep sigh of relief. It's been such a crazy roller coaster ride to get to this point. He sits back and holds my hands in his as he looks into my eyes. "I've been giving you time to feel comfortable with this. I love you so much and have been waiting so long for the perfect moment to ask you this. I think I've found it. I know we've kinda gone about all of this backwards but will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend."

"Awesome." He hugs me and gives me a big kiss.


	13. Epilogue

It's a little hard to believe that it took Tyler posing nude in a magazine to bring us closer together. I can't believe I was so against it. It's probably what saved us and now we can't be happier. The hockey season started and the Dallas fans immediately have taken to Tyler. They love him so much. It's so great to see how supportive of him they are. It's made the trade bearable and so worth it. He's happier in Dallas. I'm happier in Dallas. We're happier in Dallas. After I stayed with him through October and when I was supposed to go back to Toronto we both decided it would be better if I just moved in with him. I practically live with him during the season anyway, we figured might as well make it permanent. I no longer dwell on the past but instead cherish the present and look forward to the future, and our future looks bright.


End file.
